Together Forever
by luckyducky
Summary: Lily Evans' life was changed forever when her family was murdered. Completely alone, she is transferred to Hogwarts where she meets the Marauders, who accept her as their friend. Thus begins three years of pain, anger, ... and maybe some love. AU
1. The Beginning of a New Life

Howdy guys!

Now, I've always been a fan of anything related to Harry Potter and especially the characters from the Marauders era, my two favorite characters being Sirius and Remus. However, my favorite pairing of that era is Lily/James (that's kind of obvious since there are no other stated ones during any of the six books so far). Oh but I wish we could find out an actual pairing for Sirius and Remus. I'm tired of people sticking them with random characters that aren't even supposed to be in the time period. I'd rather people just stick them with OCs.

The twist to this story is that I don't feel like following the usual 'love-and-hate' thing that half of the stories on here are about. Yes, that's right. Lily is not going to come back to seventh year and finally see that James has deflated his once rather large head and, instead, become the knight in shining armor. No offense to the other writers, considering there are some really good ones out there, but it's getting really old. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that this story is very AU!

Frankly, it's like nothing I've ever read before on and I hope I'm not unknowingly stealing someone else's story. If I am, I'm terribly sorry – I didn't know!

My last comment I have to make is that I'm very bad about updating – all my past reviewers are my witnesses. The reason is simple: I have a life. Don't expect weekly updates. I am currently a junior in my high school and I am starting dual-credit college courses, so please, give me a break and don't nag about slow updates. I'll give them as soon as I get them ready! Also, reviews are great. They have the tendency to be very motivational. hint hint

Disclaimer: I will never have the privilege of owning anything relating to Harry Potter. All that belongs to a wonderful and much more talented writer than myself named J.K. Rowling.

Summary: A simple murder has changed fifteen year old Lily Evans' life forever. Completely alone, she is transferred to the famed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Will she be able to overcome her horrific past and make a new life for herself, especially when the threat of war grows closer?

**Together Forever**

**By**

**Luckyducky**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**The Beginning of a New Life**

She wasn't gorgeous or breath-taking. She wasn't love-at-first-sight material. She wasn't a hidden genius. She wasn't even generously gifted in anything from magic to certain body parts.

But she _was_ sitting on her school trunk in the middle of a train station wearing her favorite blue jeans.

Washed to a comfortable perfection, their familiarity kept fifteen year old Lily Evans' nerves quieted, at least to an extent. Glancing at her watch for the umpteenth time (even I stopped counting after so many) in the past half hour, she gave a rather large sigh before glancing up at the clock hanging over the archway just to make sure her watch hadn't stopped working – it hadn't. In silent irritation and impatience, Lily Evans lowered her head into her hands and rested her elbows on her knees. The past few weeks had put her through almost more than she could bear. Her parents had always told her to be strong, but this was too much! Lily closed her eyes against the flow of tears that threatened to spill over and suppressed the emotions that were longing to get out.

Before she had even registered that she didn't want to see the images yet again, they had flashed before her closed eyes.

_Wide, frightened eyes staring at her._

_The wooden door splintering as something beat against it from the outside._

_A slanted shadow displayed menacingly on the wall across from her._

_A hand stretched out in front of her._

_A streak of red hair as she swirled around to see crimson._

_Cold, white fingers grasping her arm._

_Her legs getting soaked as she splashed through puddles of water._

_And an unearthly howl as the background music for an insane laugh._

Lily Evans fiercely shook her head in a futile attempt to rid herself of the vivid images. These were the things her nightmares were made up of and she didn't want to have to experience them during the day too. Lily knew that later that night after about two hours of decent sleep she would wake up drenched in sweat, the echo of the howl lingering in her ears. It had happened every night since the incident. Even the dreamless sleeping draughts had failed to effectively work on her anymore. Her constant use of them had been so extreme that it had made her immune to their effects.

Lily rubbed her eyes once again to banish the images and looked at her watch once more.

10:38 a.m.

Four minutes since the last time she had glanced at her watch. Twenty-three minutes since she had returned from the bathroom. Thirty one minutes from the point when she had given up standing and had chosen to sit on her trunk. Thirty-eight minutes and forty-one seconds since she had first arrived at the train station.

She glanced around the station in hopes of finding another living person. However, no one else in London seemed to want to wait for this train. Just her. Her and the strange man who had escorted her from her house. He was a tall man, about 6'6, with tanned skin and brown eyes. He had his dark hair shaped up into a Mohawk and an earring dangled from his left ear. He looked about twenty-eight, and was, she guessed, an auror. He hadn't told her his name.

He had arrived at her home shortly after the…uh…well, the incident, and ordered her to pack whatever belongings she still had (the clothes on her back, a few pictures, an old storybook, the key to her Gringotts vault, her school trunk, and her wand). He had then proceeded to escort her to Diagon Alley to buy some more clothes. For the past few weeks she had been staying in a ratty pub called 'The Leaky Cauldron,' and frankly she was glad to get out of there. The only downside was that now she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She knew that eventually a train would have to come and that she would most likely get on it, but where it was going, she had no idea.

Lily Evans sighed again.

10:43 a.m.

She was normally a very patient person, but even this was absurd! It was rude to make someone wait for this long and not tell them what they're going to do or even where they're going. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the tall man fidget. It was the first time he'd moved since they had arrived here. Before she could even contemplate what that might have meant, a train whistle pierced through the still air. Lily looked down at her watch.

10:45 a.m.

She shook her head in disbelief at having waited for so long and looked up. She blinked as the train whistle sounded again, this time much louder and much closer. As she lazily stood up, her knees cracked in protest at having been bent for so long. She arched her back and stretched her arms up above her head, then looked down the tracks to the left and to the right, waiting for the train to come into view. She jumped slightly as she turned to grab her trunk, only to come face to chest with the tall man.

"I'll carry your trunk onto the train." His voice had a deep and rumbling sound to it. It was magnified even more so by the fact that the station was empty and the sound echoed throughout it.

Lily nodded quietly and turned back around. She fought the urge to cover her ears at the shrillness of the train whistle as it sounded yet again. Instead, she glanced down the tracks to her right and saw a scarlet steam engine pull into view from around the corner. As the train pulled up in front of her she saw the words 'The Hogwarts Express' printed in gold lettering on the side. It looked really professional and she wondered where on earth it would be taking her.

She felt a slight pressure on her back and took a step forward. When the pressure did not recede, she walked right up to the sliding door that led into the first car of the train and waited. Not long after, a tiny, balding man slid open the door and stepped down onto the ground. He looked up at her (he was rather short) in a judgmental sort of way for a few seconds before smiling at her and gesturing for her to go aboard. Lily hesitated, the familiar nauseous feeling creeping back into her stomach again, but moved up the stairs as the pressure on her back increased ever so slightly.

Once aboard, Lily took a left into the first compartment and sat down, nervously twisting her hands in her lap. Her escort followed her into the compartment and levitated her trunk onto the storage area above her head. As he turned to leave the compartment, supposedly to find his own, he patted her on the knee in a comforting manner. Surprised, she glanced up only to see the compartment door as he slid it shut behind him.

Taking a deep breath to calm her rapid heartbeat, Lily stared out the window as the train began to roll forward. Trees flashed by and the scenery became blurred as everything sped up. She curled her body up against the side of the compartment and rested her head on her knees, all the while staring out the window at the blurs of color. As her eyes began to close from exhaustion, her only coherent thought was that she was leaving her past life and starting a new one.

* * *

Lily woke up an hour later of her own accord, pleasantly surprised that there were no nightmares this time. Maybe she was finally starting to get over the incident. One could only hope. She was beginning to wonder what had even caused her to awaken, since she knew she could have slept longer, but her question was answered when her stomach rumbled loudly. Blushing from embarrassment, even though no one was around to hear it, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up. 

She was overjoyed to find an assortment of candies on the seat opposite her. Pumpkin Pasties, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and Chocolate Frogs – they were all there; anything she could ever want. She felt like a child in a candy store! Which one to pick first? Resigning to try some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans - she'd never had much luck with them - she turned towards the window and peered out. Still grinning at her good luck at finding a peach cobbler flavored bean, she tried to figure out exactly what was different about the countryside. It looked the same for the most part. She popped another bean in her mouth and smiled as she was met with the delightful taste of toasted marshmallow. There were trees and grass and animals randomly dotted along the way. But there was still something slightly off about it all. There seemed to be a shimmer-like quality to the atmosphere. Lily shrugged and turned back to the inside of her compartment. She was probably just imagining it.

After she had sated her hunger, Lily settled back down for another, hopefully, nightmare-free sleep. The other one had been so nice. As she focused once again on the blur of colors outside the window, she hoped against hope that wherever she was going, it would change her life for the better.

Because, God knew, it couldn't get any worse.

* * *

_Blue eyes……_

_Scared……_

_Yellow……_

_Cracking……_

_A thud……_

_Clammy ……_

_Low……_

_Footsteps……_

_Colors……_

_Lights……_

_Splashing……_

_Green, blue, red, yellow, green, blue, red, yellow……_

_Weight……_

_Green, blue, red, yellow……_

_Music box……_

_Green, blue, red, yellow……_

_Tick……_

_Green, blue, red, yellow……_

_Darkness…_

* * *

Lily jerked awake and promptly fell of the seat as she felt a hand gently shake her. She was breathing rapidly and the hair around her forehead and neck were damp with sweat. Her escort glanced sympathetically at her before levitating her trunk back down off the storage rack and off the train. Like a robot she picked herself up off the floor and followed him, but not before wincing at the bruise that was likely to form from her impact with the floor of the train. She glanced at her watch on the way out, wondering how long she had been asleep. 

5:00 p.m.

Wednesday

November 26

Well, at least it had been longer than just two hours of sleep before the nightmares came.

She stepped off of the train and lifted the hair off her neck and looked around. There was a solitary boat sitting at the edge of a great lake that disappeared around a bend. She shivered in the damp air as she climbed into the boat at her escort's request. Looking around for oars to help row with, she was surprised when she saw nothing. Maybe they had gotten into the wrong boat. However, she was proved wrong when the boat lurched forward of its own accord. She glanced around, startled, but settled down again when she saw the tall man sitting calmly behind her.

It wasn't long before the boat had reached the bend, and as it turned the corner, Lily could not help but gasp. There were magnificent towers with lights shining from many windows, an impressive Quidditch course off to the left, an expanse of lush grass heading down to the lake, and an enchanted looking forest to the right. It was one of the most spectacular sights Lily had ever seen in her life! But throughout all the wonderment, a thought still slept in the back of her mind – _What was she going to do here_?

However, her question was not to be answered just yet. As the boat lightly touched the side of the lake and she jumped lightly onto the soft grass, she felt her stomach heave in a most unpleasant manner. Lily froze, one foot in front of the other. She was afraid to move lest she lose her first lunch in the past few days. She couldn't afford to lose the little bit of nourishment she had stuffed into her body, no matter how unhealthy it was.

Even through her panic of nausea she felt her escort's presence behind her, and for some odd reason, it gave her strength. She felt her stomach relax, her vision clear, and her mind become more focused. She felt the first real bit of confidence float into her heart, and reminded herself that no matter what she was going to do here, she was strong and she could do or put up with anything.

She straightened up and took a deep breath. Turning her head slightly to the left, she saw her escort motion her to continue towards the castle out of the corner of her eye. No longer nervous, she took confident, large steps towards the giant oak doors she could see even from this distance.

As she made her way across the field, her eyes strayed to the Quidditch field. It was magnificent; much more detailed and extravagant than her old school's had been. It was decked out in alternating colors of what looked like blue, red, yellow, and green. Her stomach jolted once again as her steps faltered. Those colors…They were…They had been… there. Her mind whirled in a flurry of thoughts. _From… here? No, it couldn't be… It was a… She had… They couldn't…_ Lily shook her head and resumed her walk at a swifter pace this time. Would this place hold answers? This place which seemed to glow with magic?

Turning her head again, this time to the right, she glanced at the enchanted-looking forest. It didn't seem all that terrible, but at the same time there seemed to be an intimidating and formidable aura around it. Lily smirked. She would have to go and explore that some day, if she ever got the chance. However, she would take necessary measures to make sure she didn't get lost. After all, she'd experienced her fair share of being lost in enchanted forests. Most of the time it wasn't fun.

The sound of her trainers scraping against a different texture brought her back from her thoughts. Looking ahead of her, she realized she had reached the giant oak doors. They looked even bigger up close. Hesitating slightly, she glanced over her shoulder only to find she was alone. Spinning around hurriedly, she looked all around her in the fading twilight. Where had he gone? She noticed something lying at her feet – her trunk. With a note attached. Curious, she picked it up and began reading.

_Miss Evans,_

_It has been my pleasure ushering you throughout these past two weeks. You have been most enjoyable to be around seeing as you didn't pester and complain constantly like many in the past. However, our time together, parts here. Perhaps we shall meet again._

_Sincerely,_

_Nick _

_P.S. If you are at a loss of what to do at any time in your life, just remember this phrase:_

_'Knock and the door will be opened to you; seek and you will find.'_

Lily stared in amazement at the letter. When had he written it? When had he left? Lifting her head, she gazed one more time into the grounds surrounding the castle, but, as before, saw nothing except shadows. She involuntarily shivered at the thought of other shadows, and felt an extremely strong urge to get inside. But how? She turned around to face the doors. There was no doorknob or doorbell (A/N Hahaha…can't you imagine a doorbell at Hogwarts!) of any kind. How was she supposed to get in? She glanced down at the letter Nick had left her.

'_Knock and the door will be opened to you…'_

Glancing again at the door, she shrugged. Why not? What could go wrong? She lifted her hand in the form of a fist and raised it above her head, but instead of bringing it down, she paused. What could go wrong? A lot of things! She could be signing her death warrant by knocking on that door! Lily smiled to herself. Even she had to admit that that thought was a little extreme. Comforted by that thought and before she could change her mind, she gritted her teeth and brought her fist against the door three times.

Almost instantly, which caused her to jump slightly, the door swung open, letting out a wave of warm air and light. The silhouette of a tall man stood in front of her.

"Well, Miss Evans. It sure took you long enough to knock on that door."

Lily was surprised to find that the man's voice was warm and inviting and even slightly joking; then again, what had she expected – punishments and slavery?

"Well don't just stand there all day letting out the warm air, Miss Evans. Please join me inside. I think you will agree that it is much better than the damp, chilly air outside."

She swiftly turned around and grabbed the closest handle on her trunk and dragged it behind her as she stepped into the hall. She had to admit – it was much better inside. Amazed by the vastness of the castle, she couldn't help but let her mouth fall open. It was – huge! She had never seen anything like this. Her old school had been magnificent, but it was nothing compared to this. She quickly turned her attention back to the man as he spoke once again.

"You may set your trunk down. The house elves will see that it gets to its proper place once you have been sorted." Lily's stomach gave a funny jolt at the word 'sorted.' What exactly did he mean by that? "And if you would please follow me, you will find that many of your questions will be answered. Including the sorting."

Lily's mouth fell open once again. This man knew exactly what she was thinking! She had heard of the talent before, but had never come into contact with someone who could actually perform it.

"Excuse me, sir. But what exactly is this place?" The question had slipped from her mouth before she could stop herself. She knew she was probably being rude by asking but after two weeks of not questioning she was understandably curious.

"Oh how rude of me. I assumed Nick had at least told you where you would be going." At her blank look which plainly told him Nick hadn't, he continued. "This is a school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to be exact. And I am the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. And now if you would please accompany me to my office for a few moments while we discuss some matters."

Once again Lily felt she resembled a robot as she followed Professor Dumbledore without any further question. He led her throughout many side hallways and across many staircases, some of which, she was amazed to find out, move of their own accord. She could not help but look at all the various types of pictures that hung on the walls. They seemed to take up every bit of space and some of them were most random. It was not long before she found herself to be completely lost. All of the turns and staircases and pictures had created a whirl of confusion in her mind. Just as she thought she would become dizzy with it all, they stopped. She peered around the man to see a statue sitting inside an alcove in the wall.

"Lemon Drop."

She glanced up at the professor in wonderment. Lemon drop? What was he talking about? Maybe this man was off his rocker; this man with his long, gray hair and beard and his crooked nose. She leaned back behind the man and narrowed her eyes in anger. Was that where she was? _A mental institution!_ For the Ministry of Magic to take these extreme measures was completely unnec…

Lily cut off her thoughts as she heard the sound of stone grinding on stone. Swiftly, she leaned forward and gazed around him. The statue was moving to reveal – a hidden staircase! How exciting! As the statue continued to spiral upward, revealing more and more stairs, Lily prepared herself to climb up them. Following quickly – he was very fast for someone who seemed so old – she was soon walking into the most interesting room she had ever seen. It was circular with many sorts of objects lying on multiple tables scattered around the room. On the walls were books of every shape, size, and color in no particular order it all it seemed.

Albus Dumbledore walked to a desk placed directly opposite the door they had entered through and sat down. He rested his elbows on the desk, gestured at her to sit in one of the two chairs in front of the desk, and then folded his hands and rested his chin on them. Nervously, Lily made her way across the room, careful not to bump into any of the tables and knock down the instruments. Picking the chair on the right, she sat down and stared at Professor Dumbledore, unsure as to what she should do next.

"So, Miss Evans, the first appropriate question would seem to be: How was your trip here?" He seemed slightly amused at her confusion at his question. Her brows furrowed together. It seemed somewhat of a redundant question. She figured there were more important things that they were to discuss.

"It was only an attempt to break the ice, Miss Evans. Please, do not read too much into it." He smiled at her while his eyes twinkled a little.

In embarrassment she quickly answered, "It was fine thank you. Your escort was very polite." _That was a lie _she thought. How would she know if he was really polite? They hadn't exactly talked face to face. The only time he had spoken to her, and it really wasn't even speaking, was through the letter he left after he had disappeared.

"Yes, Nick is a gentleman. But you are mistaken. He is not 'my escort,' he is an auror who works for the Ministry of Magic."

_I was right! _She thought smugly. _He was an auror._

"And now let us move on to more serious business. I am under the impression that you are still experiencing nightmares concerning your unfortunate incident?"

Lily suppressed a shudder as a clawing hand floated to the top of her mind. she quickly pushed it away. "Yes I am, sir."

"And I am also under the impression that over-the-counter dreamless sleeping draughts have ceased to be of use to you?"

"Yes, sir, they have."

"Well, I am to let you know, on orders of our school nurse, that we have in stock here at Hogwarts a variety of sleeping potions that will cure even your horrific nightmares. That is, if you wish to use them." He looked gravely around at a shelf of books, before continuing. "It is in my strongest opinion that you should refuse her offer. Many a wizard has become addicted to sleeping draughts to keep away their demons instead of facing them. I believe it will benefit you in the long run to decline."

Lily looked away from his face towards the number of arranged portraits behind his desk. She hadn't really thought about there being stronger draughts out there, and now, with this new choice, she wasn't really sure what she wanted. One night of decent dreamless sleep would be most welcome after weeks of nightmares and tossing and turning, but was it worth it? She would definitely have to think on that for a while.

"The only other matters that really need to be discussed are just yearly orders that all students here at Hogwarts must obey. You might have noticed the enchanted forest on your way up to Hogwarts. While it may look inviting, I assure you, it's not. That forest is forbidden. Also you may have noticed a certain tree set in some from the forest next to the great lake. That tree is called the Whomping Willow and I strongly advise you to get near to it. Little Edward Dosney has already been in the hospital twice this year for not adhering to my advice." He shook his head with a slight smile on his face, and looked at her. "Unless you have any questions, we should continue down to the Great Hall so we can go ahead and get you sorted into your house."

Lily gazed down at her clasped hands in her lap and thought. Was there anything she wanted to ask? Many things rushed up to the front of her mind, many almost slipping out, but she held them all back and looked up at Professor Dumbledore and shook her head no. He glanced knowingly at her and she had the strangest feeling that he had read some of her thoughts. It was a most disconcerting feeling.

As they both stood up and walked down from his office, the same bubble of nervousness began to grow in her stomach yet again. She followed Dumbledore back down some familiar looking staircases and then down some new and unfamiliar ones. When they had reached the humungous entrance hall where she had first entered, he took a left and began walking towards another pair of doors. As he paused before opening the doors, she noticed four giant hourglasses that each contained certain colors. Green, blue, red, or yellow – her stomach jolted again - beads were in the top and bottom of the four hourglasses. She noticed that some of them had much more in the bottom than others. However, before she could investigate them more, Professor Dumbledore had opened the doors and she was met with the deafening sound of hundreds of teenagers.

It was somewhat unnatural how fast the noise died down at the sight of an unfamiliar face. Lily could feel herself blush as she stood behind Professor Dumbledore, and was sure her cheeks matched her fiery hair. She glanced around the hall and noticed five different tables; four were set vertically from where she was standing and the fifth was set horizontally at the front of the hall. As Professor Dumbledore began walking towards the table at the front, Lily trailed close behind, her eyes trained on the back of Professor Dumbledore. She could not bring herself to meet the eyes of all the other students. She hated being the center of attention.

By the time she had reached the front table, the silence that had taken over the hall when she had entered had been replaced by whispers and giggles – probably at her clashing face and hair. She was taken by surprise when Professor Dumbledore swiftly turned around and grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face the hall also. If possible, Lily blushed more.

"I hate to postpone everyone's evening meal seeing as its roast beef, but an introduction is in order. As you have most likely heard in the past couple of days, we have indeed acquired a new student. She is coming to Hogwarts from our neighboring school, Beauxenbauts. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to introduce Lily Evans."

Applause sounded throughout the hall. Apparently, this school enjoyed getting new students. Either that or they just wanted to get along to their much anticipated meal

"However, before we commence our meal, Miss Evans must be sorted. Professor McGonagall, would you please bring out the Sorting Hat?"

Lily looked to her left and right curiously. Hat? How on earth could a hat sort a person? This was getting ridiculous. Looking over her shoulder to the right, she saw a semi-young lady with a stern face bring out an old hat and a stool. Lily could not help herself as the professor placed the stool in front of her with the hat on top – she quirked an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Sit on the stool and put it on. The hat will place in one of four houses – Gryffindor which is known for bravery, Ravenclaw which is known for intellect, Hufflepuff which is known for loyalty, or Slytherin which is known for ambition. It will show you where you should be," whispered Professor Dumbledore.

Still skeptical, she slowly picked up the hat and sat down. With one last inward sigh, she pushed the hat down on top of her head where it slid down to cover her eyes. Just as she was getting ready to pull it off and tell Professor Dumbledore there must be a mistake, she heard a soft voice in her ear.

"**Don't take me off quite yet. I'm only thinking**."

Her eyes widened beneath the cover of the hat in disbelief. This hat could talk!

"**Hmmm… You're a very interesting case, yes you are. You're from Beauxbatons. Good thing you came here. Beauxbatons served you no justice. No; not with your talent. And my, my, my do you have talent**!"

_But I haven't got any talent_, Lily thought to herself.

"**Why, yes you do. Plenty of it**," the hat whispered in her ear.

Not only could the hat talk, it could read her thoughts, too! This was amazing! She'd never seen anything like this at Beauxenbauts.

"**You're very smart; and you're eager to show your worth to your fellow students. You'd fit in well with Ravenclaw… **

**But at the same time, you're very loyal to those who manage to earn your respect, which you don't give out lightly. That might go over well in Hufflepuff…**

**Then again, you're brave and courageous. No doubt caused by what you've been through. You'd be fine in Gryffindor…**

**Ah, but what's this? **

**A sliver of darkness etched on your soul. A tad of cunning and cleverness most obviously suited for those in Slytherin. And a thirst…a thirst for revenge**."

_Revenge?_ Lily thought in puzzlement. _I don't want revenge._ But before she could fully convince herself of that thought a flash of light came to her eyes and the sound of maniacal laughter rang through her ears, and she felt anger. Anger such as she had never felt before well up inside of her.

"**Ah! I see I am right. You would do very well in Slytherin. Slytherin would no doubt help you get what you want...**

**What? What's this; this shining light of gold, outshining and covering up the darkness in your soul? Could it be? Yes, it is! Your courage and goodness is trying to overcome the darkness within you. Well, taking in all that I have, I am sure you will thrive in….**"

Lily held her breath in anticipation.

"**Gryffindor!**" the hat yelled out loud to the whole hall. Lily could hear the cheers erupt through the fabric of the hat.

"**Before you leave, Miss Evans, make sure you do not become rash in your lust for revenge for your family. I am sure Gryffindor will help you stay on the right path. **

**But I have been wrong before…**"

Lily pulled off the hat and stood up. One of the four tables laid out in front of her was moving with cheering students, while the other tables looked on sulkily.

"Miss Evans, good luck on your new life," Professor Dumbledore told her quietly before standing up to address the whole hall. "I am sure all of our students will be most gracious towards Miss Lily Evans and make her feel right at home. Now, Miss Evans, if you would please go take a seat at the Gryffindor Table next to Mr. Black, we can all commence in our delicious dinner. Yes, that's Mr. Black. You see him? Yes, he's the one standing up on the table waving."

As she made her way down from the head table, she smiled to herself at the promising start of her new life. She had been placed in a house known for their bravery and courageousness. That had to be good, right?

_A thirst…a thirst for revenge…_

Lily mentally shook herself. She would not think about that now. Now was the time for meeting new people! As she came to stand in front of the boy who had been on top of the table, he jumped down in front of her and held out his hand for her to shake. Smiling nervously, she reached out her hand. He eagerly grabbed it and shook it hardly.

"Oy! Don't break her arm! She hasn't even eaten yet!"

Lily's attention was drawn to a boy sitting across the table. He had jet black hair that stuck up slightly in the back and brownish eyes covered by black-framed glasses.

"Sorry mate. Here, my lady," the boy still holding her hand gestured to the empty spot beside his spot. "Please grace us with your radiant presence." She could not hold in the giggle as he bowed dramatically before her, the tips of his hair brushing the floor. The butterflies seemed to be leaving her stomach as she sat down next to 'Mr. Black.' She supposed it had to do with his welcoming behavior. Her eyes widened as food appeared on the table in front of her.

"Hello."

Lily looked up and her gaze was met by a boy who emitted a weak-yet-strong vibe. He had brownish-amber eyes, light brown hair, and a soft voice. He had circles under his eyes that, she could tell, had been tried to lighten by magic, and a fading scar that ran from the corner of his left eye down the side of his face. She took all this in during the span of a few seconds.

"Hi," she answered shyly.

"I'm Remus Lupin, otherwise known as Moony," he added with a smile.

"I'm Lily Evans," she responded simply before reaching for some of the roast beef.

"Hi! I'm Peter Pettigrew, otherwise known as Wormtail," said a voice to her left.

He was a smaller boy, she noticed, and was on the chubby side. He had dirt-blonde hair and small watery eyes. She felt he resembled some kind of animal but couldn't quite figure it out. Oh well, it would probably come to her later.

She nodded to him with a small smile before looking towards 'Mr. Black' who was sitting next to her on the right.

"I am Sirius Black, traitor of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, otherwise known as Padfoot."

He was easily the most handsome out of the bunch. He had black hair that fell perfectly into his stormy-gray eyes, an athlete's physique that she could tell even through his school uniform, and a kind of charm that seemed to radiate off of him. _He's probably a womanizer_, she thought to herself. _But he seems nice enough._

"And I," her gaze was once again drawn to the messy-haired boy with glasses, "am James Potter, otherwise known as Prongs."

James, like Sirius, had the look of an athlete. He also seemed to enjoy his messy hair rather than detest as some probably would.

"Don't listen to him," she heard Sirius whisper dramatically to her. "His real nickname's Stick-Head!"

She covered her mouth with her hand to silence her giggles at their playful banter as James chucked a slab of roast beef at Sirius who, through his bark-like laugh, didn't see it coming. Needless to say, he was wiping gravy out of his hair through the rest of the conversation. She had barely known these boys for five minutes, but could already tell they had been friends for a very long time.

Once she had gotten her giggles under control, she politely asked, "May I ask how you came by those ridiculous nicknames?" She smiled slightly at the look of fake horror that crossed Sirius' and James' faces.

"Ridiculous?" James chocked out, his hand held over his heart as if it was injured.

"My lady," Sirius began theatrically, throwing down the napkin he was using to wipe up the gravy, "They are not merely nicknames. They are symbolic names that represent…our…they're representing our…" Sirius' proud face fell into a pathetic smirk as laughter rang out from the three other boys. "Dang! I lost it! I was going to say something really cool!"

"What he meant to say, was that our nicknames are known throughout the school," Remus explained. "We – meaning the four of us – are the Marauders: Makers of Magical Mischief and Mayhem!" Remus paused before looking at the other three. "That was pretty good, huh?"

Lily looked around her as the other three boys nodded appreciatively. Confused, she looked back to Remus, hoping for another explanation.

"I just made that last part – Makers of Magical Mischief and Mayhem – up off the top of my head! We may have to add that to our title…" he added thoughtfully.

James quickly squashed the idea. "Nah, that's too long to try and say all at once. It's much easier to just say," He gestured with his hands dramatically, "The Marauders."

The conversation continued much like that throughout the rest of the meal. As Lily smiled and played along with the four of them, she felt as if a great weight had lifted from her stomach and, surprisingly, her heart. For the first time since the incident she was having fun! She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed or smiled so much.

As the last of the deserts were consumed, mostly by Sirius Black, the tables were cleared of all dishes and a great feeling of content was felt by all the students. The remains of the talking died down as Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Since tonight was a one-time event, tomorrow you will not be required to be at dinner at a certain time. Good night everyone!"

Lily looked around unsurely as most of the students in the hall stood up to leave. She had no idea what to do or where to go. But before she could contemplate these matters further, Sirius had grabbed her hand and was pulling her along.

He looked back with a grin, "We'll show you around until you get the hang of things here at Hogwarts."

She smiled thankfully and allowed herself to be pulled along. Once outside of the 'Great Hall' as Sirius had called it, they stood to the side and waited for the rest of their friends to emerge. Slowly they appeared - first James, then Peter, and lastly Remus.

"'Bout time! We thought you got lost in there Moony!" Sirius said exasperatedly. Remus just smiled apologetically.

They waited there for some time so to let the crowd go by. As the exiting people began to thin out, they made their way up the staircase in a line with Peter on the far left, then James, then Lily, then Sirius, and on the far right, Remus. As they walked through the school, they would all point out interesting little facts or features about this staircase or that hallway. Just as Lily was getting ready to interrupt them to ask where exactly they were going, they stopped before a painting of a great lady in a pink dress.

"This," Remus gestured to the painting, "is the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. The passwords change weekly, so either write them down on paper and keep it with you, or don't forget them. This week's password is 'Fortuna Major.'"

The painting of the 'Fat Lady' as Peter called her, swung forward revealing an entrance. Lily followed James and Sirius and scrambled through. Once she had reached the other side she was amazed to find a circular room full of tables, recliners, and sofas. There was a fireplace on the opposite side of the room from them where most of the sofas were stationed. The colors of the room seemed to be primarily scarlet and gold, and there was a great banner of a lion above the fireplace. On the right and left side of the room there were staircases.

"They lead to the dormitories," Sirius clarified, following her gaze. "The one on the left is to the boy's dormitory and the one on the right is to the girl's. It's really unfair how they rigged it…" he trailed off in a suggestive manner, knowing she would question about it further.

Lily tore her gaze from the staircases and looked at him questioningly.

"You see the girls can come up into our dormitory any time they want, but if the boys try to walk up the girl's stairs, they flatten out at once and you slide back down." Then he smiled mischievously. "We're in the process of finding a way around that little problem."

She rolled her eyes at his faked evilness, and followed the rest of the guys to one of the sofas. It was the only one that remained empty, even though all the other ones were full. It seemed as if this sofa was the Marauder's sofa and no one else could sit on it. As James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus sat down, they began making room for her, but she motioned for them to stop.

"I'm really tired and it's been a long day. I'm ready to try to get some sleep," she said quietly.

_Yeah, try_ she thought.

Sirius was the first to respond. "Well, okay. We'll see you tomorrow. You're a fifteen right?" Lily nodded. "Well that's good! Then you're in the same year as us! You should get your schedule in the morning so during breakfast we'll compare your schedule to ours and help you find your classes."

She was taken back at the forwardness of the statement. She had just gotten here and already these four guys were treating her like their friend. Finally, she smiled and nodded.

"Alright, thanks!" she said with sincerity.

James spoke up before she left with one last helpful direction, "You're dormitory should be on the fifth floor. Your room will have you're name on the outside of the door, along with anyone else who's going to share the room with you."

She thanked him before turning around and heading up the girl's staircase. Once she had reached the fifth floor she began trying to locate her room. When she found it she hesitated at the door – she was sharing it with one other girl named Sue Walker. Cautiously she knocked on the door. It wasn't long before she heard a soft voice say, "Come in."

Slowly she opened the door to reveal a girl about Lily's height. She had bright blue eyes, shoulder-length curly blonde hair, and dimples. She seemed somewhat shy and reminded of a bookworm she used to know. If that was the case, they would get along great, because the bookworm Lily was referring to was her best friend from Beauxenbauts.

"Hey," Sue said, barely audible.

"Hi," Lily responded a little louder. "I'm Lily Evans."

"I'm Sue Walker," she answered, a little louder this time. Maybe from the friendly nature that Lily seemed to be emitting.

An awkward silence ensued for about thirty seconds before Lily spotted one of the books sitting on Sue's bedside table. It was titled The Great Gatsby, and was personally one of her favorites.

"Do you like that book?" Lily motioned towards The Great Gatsby.

Sue turned quickly to see what Lily was talking about. When she saw the book she turned back around with a shy smile and answered, "Yes. I know it's a muggle book, but it's such a classic that I can't help but enjoy it."

Lily smiled brightly at her, happy that they already had similarities. "Me too! It's got such a great message. I thought I was the only one in the world that liked it, though. No one else I knew would ever even try to read it." Lily's face fell for a second. "My only copy got burned up in a fire not to long ago."

Sue made a sympathetic face. "I'm sorry."

Lily quickly switched her mood though, not wanting to remain sad, especially since she had been happy ever since arriving at Hogwarts. "Don't worry about it." She looked around the room for a minute, and, spotting only one other bed besides Sue's, asked her, "Is this my bed?"

Sue nodded and told her that the house elves had brought her trunk upstairs for her, but she would have to unpack.

_Unpack what_? Lily thought to herself. _I don't have anything left._ Lily made her way over to her bed and sat down. She was surprised by how comfortable it was. Lily sat there for a while absorbed in her own thoughts of what she was going to wear tomorrow, when Sue interrupted them.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, and I hope that we can become great friends." She hesitated before adding, "I don't have many…good friends, that is."

Lily smiled sweetly at her, "Well you do now, because I think we're going to get along fine."

Sue beamed back at her before telling her good-night.

Lily quietly told her good-night too before opening her trunk and setting the only picture of her family that had survived the fire on her bedside table. Looking around, she spotted a door labeled 'Bathroom' and decided that a shower was most definitely in order.

She was happy to see there was already shampoo and soap in there with a label that said 'Lily' on it. When she was through scrubbing and washing, she wrapped a towel around herself and stood in front of the mirror. She was astonished by how happy she looked. Taking it as a good sign of things to come, she put on some pajamas that had magically appeared on a rack during her shower – she had no idea how, but frankly didn't worry about it – and headed for her bed. As she tucked herself in and closed the curtains around her bed, she tried not to dread what would most likely come during the night.

She didn't know if she mumbled loudly during her nightmares, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake up Sue and have to answer questions about why she was scared from a dream.

What she didn't know was that she screamed.

* * *

Well there's chapter 1 everybody! Please review and tell me if you like it and want me to continue. I really do want to, but if everyone hates it, I won't…

I can't really give you a preview of actual text from the next chapter seeing how I haven't written it yet, but I will tell you that it's about Lily's growing friendship with the Marauders and new classes.

Please Review!

Luckyducky


	2. Normalcy Sets In

Hello everyone!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Almost two years since I first posted chapter one. I know I kind of just threw this story off to the side, but I got on the other day, read it, and it kind of rekindled by desire to continue with it. I don't know how well I'll keep it going this time, but I'm going to try!

Anywho, I know this chapter might be kind of dull, but it was necessary to establish a growing connection and friendship between Lily and the Marauders. The next chapter will hopefully be a little more exciting!

**Together Forever**

**By**

**Luckyducky**

* * *

**Chapter II**

**Normalcy Sets In**

_The uncaring, calculating eyes sent her heart racing. They weren't directed at her, though, at least for the moment. Instead, the calculating eyes lay on someone that resided just out of her sight, around the kitchen doorframe. For the longest time, silence graced the house. It would have been a nice reprieve from the previous pounding of footsteps, gasps of pain, and chilling laughter if it didn't mean that something worse was coming._

_The silence dragged on, the only sound she heard was the racing of her own heart. Her heart beat so hard and fast that it seemed like it shook her whole body, causing her vision to blur momentarily with each beat. However, no amount of blurring vision could block out the smile that spread across the mouth beneath the uncaring, calculating eyes. Although not a big smile, it promised a variety of pain to the victim and pleasure to the torturer. All she could do was watch… and listen. _

_Listening was the worst. The screams penetrated through her to her very soul. She fought the urge to vomit as she watched the eyes widen in a sort of passionate excitement. Throughout this new display of horror, the footsteps had resumed and the others began to sweep the house more thoroughly. Her stomach clenched painfully, knowing what would happen if she was found._

_But she was caught. Cornered. There was no way out anymore. Her only view was of four walls, one of which contained a door. That sole door was the entrance and the exit. Her previous escape and her coming demise. Her only outlook of what was happening elsewhere was through the tiny vent in the bottom of the door. This was where she was currently placed. Peering through the vent to at least have some of knowledge of what was going on. _

_Although she knew that the intruders were aware that she resided somewhere in the house, the pleading voice nearly made her heart stop. "Lily…" it dragged out slowly, a request for some type of help. Now that the intruders had a name to go on, they began taunting, calling out for her. Between the now constant cat-calls and taunts of the intruders and the periodic screams of the victim in the kitchen, she became almost frantic in her desperation and feelings of being cornered._

"_Lily…. Oh, Lily! Don't you want to come out and play?"_

_She clutched her stomach with one arm and covered her mouth with the other to prevent the scream as a flash of green light shone from the kitchen. All the tortured screaming had stopped, as had the cat-calls and taunts. It was silent. Slowly, ever so slowly, the calculating eyes shifted from the now dead victim. They roamed the expanse of the room they were in and then slowly moved to the hallway. _

_She jumped back from the vent, hoping and praying to whoever was listening that she would not be seen. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, her back pressed up against the wooden wall beside the door. No noise greeted her ears. No footsteps, shuffling, or breathing of any kind. She would have thought that maybe they had disapparated except there was no popping sound that accompanies it. _

_As quietly as she could possibly manage, she shifted her weight and turned her body. Now facing the door straight on, she took in a silent deep breath and held it. Even breathing sounded momentously loud in her ears. She lowered her head, inched it forward, and peered through the vent. The hallway seemed the same; nothing had changed. Glancing towards the kitchen, she noticed that the torturer from earlier was no longer there. Then she heard it. The cool, chilling voice…_

"_Are you afraid of death, Lily Evans?"_

* * *

Lily Evans awoke with a start the same way she had woken for the past few weeks, drenched in sweat. It was much worse than the previous evening on the Hogwarts Express. Her hair was plastered to her neck and face, while her pajamas clung to every inch of her body. Her top was twisted around her body, signs of her tossing and turning. Basically, she looked a mess.

Lily glanced quickly around the room, taking in her new "home." Upon first waking, her heart had begun to beat rapidly at the new and unfamiliar surroundings, but then a rush of memories flooded her and she calmed. At least as much as was possible. Seeing that it was still pretty early, only 5:36 in the morning, and that her roommate was still sound asleep, Lily got up, stretched and headed for the shower. She should have known it was futile to take a shower the night before. Why would last night have been any different from the nights before?

As the water warmed, she stepped in. The hard spray of water hit her shoulders and back, effectively relaxing her. Leaning her head back and rubbing soap into it, she washed all the sweat from her hair and then her body, all the while thinking of the four colors. It was hopefully just a horrible coincidence, seeing those colors here. However, those were the only colors those people wore… and now she resided in a place whose seal colors were the same. She shivered even though she stood under the warm spray of water.

Shoving all of her depressing thoughts away, as she did most mornings, Lily stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and began drying off. Once dry and feeling much better, she exited the bathroom to find her roommate, Sue, awake and reading. Sue quickly looked up, not used to having someone else staying with her.

"Were you waiting for the shower?" Lily asked while rummaging through her trunk, looking for something to wear. Her only clothes, besides the ones she had been wearing yesterday, were all new.

"Yeah, but that's ok. I don't mind waiting… it's nice having someone else in here with me. Sometimes I get kind of scared being here all by myself." Sue hesitated as if she wanted to say something but was afraid of the consequences. She lowered her eyes to her book, unwilling to bring up a possibly sensitive subject. Lily, however, didn't miss the look on her face.

"Is everything ok?" she asked conversationally, trying not to display any discomfort. She wanted Sue to tell her what was wrong, and the only way to persuade her without begging was to act like nothing was wrong. Or at least she figured that would work… Lily had a sneaking feeling it was about her. Sue, with her eyes focused sharply on her book (much too harshly to be actually reading), hesitated for a while longer before looking up at Lily and meeting her eyes.

"I'm fine, really. I'm just happy that I have a roommate now." Sue smiled and Lily returned the gesture. If Sue didn't want to talk about it, Lily was not going to beg. Although she was sure it was about her midnight mumbling, she would not press the subject. Besides, she didn't want to talk about what had happened anyway, which she knew Sue would ask if they started talking. No, it was better left this way.

After getting dressed, Lily told Sue bye and headed downstairs. The common room was quiet, all of the other Gryffindors being asleep. After all, the time was currently the ungodly hour of 7:00 in the morning. Deciding it would be best to wait for someone, she would get lost trying to find her way around the castle, she chose a comfy looking sitting chair and sat down. Lily let her eyes roam around the room, taking in everything from the other furniture to the bulletin board covered in postings. She liked the house she had been put in. Gryffindor. It just sounded strong, plus the colors were amazing. The red and gold just seemed so regal. Not that she was a snob and wanted to be rich or anything, they were just comforting. Sitting in the common room alone, the color's warmth made her feel at home.

"You do realize that's my chair you happen to be sitting in, don't you?" a voice behind her whispered quietly into her ear. Lily started at the action and turned, finding Sirius Black.

Lily smiled at him, "I'm terribly sorry, Sirius. If I had any idea this was your chair, I would have immediately laid on the floor and worshiped it."

Sirius smiled at her slightly before wiping his face clean and saying seriously, "Well it's a good thing we can chalk it up to ignorance then, isn't it? Just make sure you don't do it again." There was a slight pause before his and her face broke and they dissolved into laughter. Lily welcomed the laughter with open arms. It made her feel so… so… normal to laugh. She loved it.

"Really, though. What are you doing up at this hour? I figured you'd be sleeping right up until class started," she inquired after the laughter had died down.

"Absolutely not! Sirius Black, go without breakfast? That's blasphemy, Lily. You will learn that as soon as you see me eat. Yes, it is a true testimony to my piggish-ness that I would rather wake up early to eat all I can than get another thirty minutes or so of beauty sleep."

Lily chuckled to herself at his "beauty sleep" statement. He really was conceited, but he seemed nice enough, so that was good enough for her.

"Would you like to accompany me downstairs for breakfast, Miss Evans?" he asked charmingly. She couldn't help but notice that that was how he must get the girls. Goodness, it was a little hard to ignore the faint flutter of her heart at seeing him so charming, bowing before her, his storm gray eyes peering up at her through his hair.

"I would love to accompany you, Mr. Black. After all, I must see with my own eyes, your piggish display," she replied with a smile. He straightened up and offered her his arm.

_Charming, indeed_ she thought to herself. Nevertheless, she took his offered arm and they made their way out of the common room. As they made their way downstairs, Lily could barely keep up with everything Sirius was saying. He explained the staircases tendencies to move, the best classes to take, the awful ones they **had** to take, and the best things to do in the evenings and on the weekends. He talked about how they would go over her schedule this morning and help her all day. He talked about the Christmas break and how he went to James' since he had been disowned. He talked about how awesome it would be if she would be able to come to James' also. Basically, he talked, talked, and talked some more. The entire way down to the Great Hall, Lily was only able to listen to Sirius talk and try and memorize how they had gotten down there.

Noticing her look up at the staircases trying to remember, he commented casually, "Don't worry, Lils. We'll help you until you get the hang of everything, and probably continue to afterwards just because we want to." Lily smiled thankfully at him. After returning her smile with a roguish grin, he began to talk about his younger brother, Regulus, and how he was making the family proud. Even though she wanted to question him about this, especially since he had introduced himself as a traitor to the house of Black, there was no way she could get a word in otherwise. He talked non-stop. As soon as he had said his fill on Regulus, he switched to talking about a flying motorcycle he had seen last summer.

Lily was actually grateful when they entered the Great Hall. _Thank goodness that he can fill his mouth with food instead of talking_ she thought. She appreciated how nice he was being, but there really was a limit to that much talking. Lily slowly made her way to where Sirius was sitting, stuffing his face. He had taken off towards the Gryffindor table the minute they had entered, leaving her by herself. She didn't mind though, and definitely wasn't hurt. It gave her a few minutes to calm her mind down seeing how it was filled with all the useless bits of information Sirius had been talking about.

Once Lily reached the table and took a seat opposite from Sirius, she was surprised to find herself hungry. As of late, she had lacked any sort of appetite and had, thus, been losing the little meat that had been on her bones. She was a naturally thin girl, and not eating was a big no-no, according to her mother. While her mother was alive, Lily had not paid her any mind. Why should she, when she had food all the time? Now, however, Lily understood where her mom had been coming from. She was wasting away.

Her stomach growled loudly, and Lily couldn't help but smile for two reasons: 1) the fact that she was hungry was such a good thing and 2) the look on Sirius' face as he glanced at her when her stomach growled. He had a mouthful of biscuit and his eyes were wide as he pretended to be scared. Lily laughed and shoved him playfully before grabbing two biscuits and a few pieces of bacon and sausage. Lily and Sirius were both sitting there in silence eating when James and Remus sat down beside them.

"Did you have a nice night, Lily?" Remus asked nicely.

She smiled at him, "Yes, thanks."

"The house elves brought up all your stuff alright then?" James inquired.

Lily was on the edge of answering James' question when Sirius interrupted, "Less talking, more eating. You guys know I can't concentrate on eating when everyone's talking."

Lily smiled once again at the boys as they began to play argue. Remus was the first to drop out. He smiled apologetically at Lily. "They do this all the time, you'll get used to it." He seemed a lot more resigned this morning than last night.

"Oh I don't mind at all, really. I haven't smiled or laughed this much in quite a while. It's nice, actually." Her reply was lost, however, in the yelling. James and Sirius had pounced on Remus' claim that it was 'them' that do this all the time.

"You were the one who said we should steal that coat of armor for Halloween…"

"The Kneazle incident was totally on you…"

"…And then there was the time you stole that cart of Butterbeer…"

"…Plus you were the one that decided to steal that girl's knickers…"

"…And you can't forget the cheese incident!"

Lily laughed out loud, holding her stomach, as James and Sirius brought up time after time of Remus' bad-behavior. Remus, however, calmly ate his toast and rolled his eyes at Lily.

"I did no such thing, and that cheese incident was as much your fault, Padfoot, as it was mine!" Remus countered.

As soon as Remus retaliated, there was no going back. Lily noticed that people had begun to filter into the Great Hall, none of which were looking at the source of all the yelling. Apparently, this was a common occurrence. As insult after insult was fired, Lily watched while eating her biscuit. Suddenly, everyone in the Great Hall looked up, with the exception of James, Sirius, and Remus. Lily, confused at what everyone was looking at, looked up in time to see hundreds of owls swoop in, all of them carrying something.

"It's the mail," a voice said from beside her. Lily looked at the source to find Peter staring at her. "The owls bring it every morning during breakfast."

"Oh," Lily said stupidly before turning back to her food. The way Peter had been staring at her, unnerved her. Seeing how Lily was absorbed in her thoughts, she started when a large, tawny owl dropped a letter on top of her bacon. Picking it up delicately and attempting to wipe the small bit of grease off the back of the envelope, she opened it and took out the letter inside.

_Ms. Evans,_

_I hope that your first night staying at Hogwarts _

_with Ms. Walker was pleasant. Mr. Potter, _

_Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew have _

_informed me of their desire to accompany you _

_around until you have learned the swing of things. _

_Enclosed is a schedule of your classes for this_

_year at Hogwarts. I have chosen subjects that _

_I believe will not only interest you, but also _

_push your limits. If you have need for anything, _

_don't hesitate to owl._

_Good luck,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Lily glanced up after reading the first page. Remus, James, and Sirius were still arguing. She didn't want to glance over at Peter to see what he was doing. He seemed nice enough last night at dinner, but now he seemed slightly creepy. Pulling her letter beneath the table out of sight, she removed the first page from Dumbledore and read the second page – her schedule.

She had only read the first four lines when the letter was snatched out of her hands. With a cry she grabbed for it as a blonde-haired boy with a gleaming silver badge on his robes surveyed her schedule. At her cry, the Marauders had ceased arguing and turned their attention to the blonde boy.

"Malfoy, give Lily her letter back," James said strongly. It was not a request said nicely to a friend, it was a command said sharply to a rival. Lily tore her eyes away from the blonde boy, Malfoy, in front of her to look at her newfound friends. They all, including Peter, were glaring at the boy.

"Now, now, Potter. I am just seeing what her schedule is like. I would love to help Ms. Evans here find her way around the castle." Lily felt her stomach flop around. This Malfoy guy was certainly not anyone she would want to be alone with.

"Lucius, I think it best that you leave," Remus said threateningly.

Lucius Malfoy glanced up from surveying the letter. When nothing but glares met his eyes he said nastily, "So you've already begun recruiting her into your little gang then. What, are you going to try and turn her into a hero or something? Look at her. Horribly plain, except for the eyes and hair. Plain looks, plain name. She's obviously a Mudblood."

All through his venomous speech, the boys around Lily had been tightening their fists and clenching their jaws. It wasn't until Malfoy had called her a Mudblood that James leapt up and jumped for Malfoy, only to be caught by the arms by Sirius.

"What do you care, Malfoy?" James spat. "The only reason you want her is so you can have your way with her and kill her. Or it could be that you want to poison her mind like everyone else's and recruit her as a Death Eater for your Master." James was breathing heavily as he said all this since he was still struggling to get free of Sirius' hold on him.

Lucius Malfoy's eyes narrowed at the insult, but then he smiled. "I believe that since I am a prefect," he tapped his silver badge, "I will just have to take off ten points from Gryffindor for that display of insolence. I trust that it will not happen again, or you can expect something worse."

He turned his back on the Gryffindor table at began walking away, all with James sputtering at him taking points off. Malfoy had taken only a few steps before turning back around and saying softly, "You might want to watch yourself Ms. Evans. Bad things happen to plain people. Your hair might be bright red, but I am sure your blood is brown."

Lily's face flushed in embarrassment and anger. She was muggle born, but having it said in front of an entire dining hall full of people was humiliating. Not meaning she was ashamed of her heritage, but of the fact that something like this had happened on her second day here. Lily leaned down and picked up her schedule that Malfoy had tossed on the floor before turning back around and staring at her goblet that was still full of juice. Suddenly she wasn't so hungry anymore.

James flopped down next to her again, shaking with anger. "He's such a bastard!" he seethed. "He does this to everyone who is muggle born. Thinks he's so much better than everyone else just because his family inbreeds to prevent marrying muggles." James continued to mumble angrily about the encounter with Lucius Malfoy, mostly to himself than anybody else.

"Lily could I see your schedule, please?" Remus asked as politely as he could. As she handed him her schedule, she briefly glanced at him noticing that he still looked furious. Lowering her eyes again to her plate of food again, she fought back the feelings of despair. She had felt so good earlier, so normal. While she was laughing and having fun with her new friends, it had been hard to remember that she had survived something terrible. That was all back now. Her previous feelings of contentment were shattered, leaving her feeling naked and exposed.

After a while of reviewing her class list, Remus claimed that the only class they did not share was Ancient Runes. He added that his was good because not only did it make it easier to accompany her everywhere and help her learn everything, but also meant that they would always be with her in case Malfoy ever tried anything. At the mention of Malfoy's name, James was off again, muttering and stabbing his sausage with his fork.

"Prongs, mate, stop stabbing the sausage! You're mutilating it and it's perfectly good food! If you stab it into nothing, I wont be able to eat it," Sirius said. He then reached onto James' plate, grabbed the pieces of sausage, and promptly ate them. Just this simple action seemed to lighten the mood. James, who had been muttering, looked up and Lily saw the beginnings of a smile. Remus also relaxed some more and handed Lily her schedule back.

"Your first class is double Transfiguration with Ravenclaw," Remus stated. Everyone around the table groaned.

Lily was confused. "What's so wrong with having Transfiguration with Ravenclaw?" She hoped she wasn't stupid for asking.

Sirius swallowed the chunk of biscuit in his mouth and replied, "It just means that they'll be trying to show everyone up all during class. They always try to be the best."

"It's still better than having even a single class with Slytherin," James said, to which everyone nodded their agreement.

They five teenagers continued to eat, James and Sirius occasionally making comments about upcoming Quidditch games and strategies that would be put into play after the holidays. Lily listened intently to their conversation. Quidditch had always been a fascinating sport to her. Dangerously intriguing, her first boyfriend had been on a team. After listening for a while, Lily discovered that James was a chaser on the Gryffindor house team. He proudly told her that he was next in line for captain and that it would come about next year. He also whispered dramatically in her ear that he already had a book full of new plays he was absolutely dying to try out.

Lily couldn't help but giggle, which effectively lifted her own mood. Everyone seemed to have dismissed the Malfoy ordeal and continued on with their daily activities. _If they can do it, so can I,_ Lily thought determinedly.

About ten minutes passed and Lily noticed that students around the Great Hall were beginning to get up and make their way out. She turned to Remus to ask him what time it was when he stood up and announced that they should go ahead and make their way to class. Lily stood up, as did James, Sirius, and Peter, and began walking beside Remus.

* * *

Lily's first real day at Hogwarts went smoothly, as did the next, and the next. In fact, Lily's life at Hogwarts was almost perfect. She went to all her classes, accompanied by one of her four close friends at all times. She completed homework at night in the common room while listening to James and Sirius play fight or Sirius complaining that he was losing to Remus in Wizard's Chess. She talked to her newfound girlfriend, Sue, at nights before she went to bed, although Sue never mentioned her weird mood that first morning. Lily was happy to say that she had never felt more at home and at ease before.

The only black spot on her life was during the night when she awoke from her nightmares of spinning colors and various other objects. That, and the occasional moment in between classes when Slytherins would comment loudly about how the world was going to the dogs with Mudbloods running around everywhere. However, jinxes and hexes from either James or Sirius quickly silenced their comments. Remus and Peter were too meek to do more than tell them off.

Before she knew it, Christmas was within a week away. Hogwarts was completely decked out in Christmas-y fashion and everyone, students and teachers, were hyped up about the upcoming holidays. Lily, however, was beginning to feel a sort of dread. She knew that students were more than welcome to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays, and she really didn't have a problem with that. The only thing that bothered her was that she would be staying there alone. She was terribly afraid of what the Slytherins might do to her if they caught her alone.

Not saying that she wouldn't be able to defend herself, though. Of course she would give them a run for their money, and if they wanted to hurt her that bad she'd make it hard for them. That didn't stop her feelings of nervousness though. She always felt more comfortable with one of her Marauder friends with her. However, that wouldn't happen over Christmas.

She knew that her four friends always went to stay at James' house over the holidays. They had told her stories of killer Christmas trees, mistletoe gone wrong, and eggnog that contained Puking Pasties. She had heard all about James' parents and how amazing, sweet, and welcoming they were. All through these past weeks she had been secretly hoping that maybe, just maybe, they would invite her too, but nothing had happened yet. She even had half of her trunk packed with clothes just in case. But alas, nothing was happening. No offers. Lily had begun to give up hope until mid-December came around and all that changed.

It was Friday, December 12th, and terribly stormy outside. The wind howled while the rain beat against the roofs and windows. The creaking sounds Hogwarts made didn't make the students feel any better. It seemed as if the storm itself would breach Hogwarts walls when nothing else ever had.

Lily was half-laying half-sitting on a couch in the common room watching James and Remus battle it out in Wizard's Chess. The only problem was that she was so tired from a lack of sleep lately (her nightmares had become worse) that her eyes kept glazing over and becoming unfocused. To try and prevent this annoying problem, she kept switching her eyes from the boys playing chess to the fire that crackled in the grate. After some time of doing this, Sirius noticed.

"Lily, are you planning something? You keep moving your eyes back and forth and you look all shifty-like. It's getting kind of creepy," he said nervously, a hint of a laugh in there also.

Lily looked at him and laughed. He was right; she probably did look like a maniac. Once her laughter had died down, she sighed before replying, "I've just been really tired lately, but I don't want to go up to bed yet so I'm down here suffering."

"So that explains your sneaky looking eye-shifting?" he asked back. By now they had gained James' and Remus' attention. The three of them were watching her, intrigue playing on their faces.

"Lils is going to play a prank on us, I bet," James whispered loudly to Remus.

Remus just looked disgusted as he said, "Prongs, you just spit on me. That's sick."

James, however, was undeterred. "So, Lily, what plan have you concocted? You're a smart witch and that actually makes me kind of excited. I want to see what kind of prank you have planned out that you think will actually work on us. Come on, Lily. Tell me what it is." He waited expectantly.

"Did you hear me, James? You just _**spit**_ on me! Plus it was on my face, no less!" Remus continued.

Lily just looked at him, a smile on her face. "Really, James, I'm not planning anything. I'm just tired so every time my eyes start to close or something, I move them. It's nothing shifty, nothing crafty. I'm just plain old tired."

After a few seconds of silent staring, the boys seemed to accept this answer and continued with their previous activities. Remus continued to mumble about how disgusting it was that James had spit on his face and that the least he could do was apologize and wipe it off until James sighed, leaned over, wiped it off, and joked, "Is that all better Moony-poo? All the nasty spit off your face?" Remus gave him a dirty look in return.

Everything continued as normal again when, all of a sudden, Lily's light bulb came on. "And James, you're daft if you think I'm going to tell you if I'm planning a prank, much less what it would be! Why on earth would I give everything away?"

James jumped up from his game of Wizard's Chess, that he was now losing badly, and practically yelled, "I knew it! I knew you were planning something!"

Lily had jumped at his sudden reaction to her words and had promptly busted out laughing at his accusations. "James, I'm not planning anything," she managed to get out between her laughs.

"Fine. You can play the hard way," James said seriously. "This just means we'll have to battle until one of us falls. If I fall, you keep your secret, but if you fall, you have to tell. Deal?" He looked at her, completely serious, pulled out his wand, and began polishing it. He looked very professional.

Lily stared at James. "I'm not going to duel you. We would get in so much trouble if we got caught, and I know you don't care about that, but I do." Lily paused a moment before smiling evilly and saying, "Plus, I don't want you to get embarrassed when I beat you."

James sputtered incoherently and raised his wand, not in dueling position, but like a sword. "I challenge thee," he said softly. "And I will not go easy on you."

Lily stood up slowly and took out her wand. "You forget, James, that I am a smart witch and that it will be me who will not go easy on you. Challenge accepted."

Thus began the most… well, the most ludicrous duel of their time. Lily, letting loose of all her shyness, let herself have fun like she'd never had before. She'd witnessed the Marauder's pranks many times by now, but this was the first time she'd actually joked with them instead of just laughing from the sidelines. It was great!

As Lily and James battled their way around the common room, which was, by now, empty, Remus joined Sirius on the couch, well out of the way. They laughed as they saw Lily expertly divert James' stabbing attempts par for par. They made their way around the entire common room, avoiding all the furniture carefully so they would not trip. Remus and Sirius gasped when Lily stumbled slightly. James tried to take advantage of her mishap, stabbing quickly, but Lily was too quick and was soon back in swing. The battle reached new heights when Lily, attempting to avoid a particularly nasty and well aimed wand-thrust, jumped onto a coffee table. James, who was now at her mercy as her wand was pointed at the top of his head, could do nothing more but sigh in defeat… right before he bodily tackled her off the table onto a chair. Lily screeched at the sudden and unexpected action as she fell into the soft armchair.

"You didn't follow the rules, James. That wasn't fair," she said in between breathing. Her face, as well as James', was flushed with their exertions. "You weren't supposed to use physical strength, just talent."

He smiled at her, "I had to, Lils. I couldn't lose, especially with my best mates here watching. It would have been disgraceful!"

She shook her head at him as he helped her up. "Well that means that next time this happens, I'm going to have to play dirty. You deserve it after that cheap punch. I mean, honestly… you have to tackle a girl to win. That's slightly pathetic, Potter."

"All right, Evans," James joked back. "Next time you can pull out all the stops." He paused for a minute before asking, "By the way, what are you doing for Christmas?"

Lily's breath caught in her throat. This was what she'd been waiting for – an invitation to the Potter's house for the holidays. If James was really inviting her, then that pretty much meant that they considered her part of their group, not for the moment, but permanently.

"Nothing," she replied slowly. "I figured I was just going to stay at Hogwarts."

"Yeah right! If you're not going to go home to see your family, you're coming with us to Prongs' house," Sirius yelled out. "Haven't you figured anything out by now, Lily?" Sirius waited for her to answer, but at the blank look on her face he continued. "You're one of us. You know our nicknames, you're on the inside of all our pranks, and you can beat Prongs here in a duel, not that that's very hard."

Sirius quickly dodged the pillow James threw at his head.

"What about that one time when I hexed you and you started to…" James began in his defense, but Sirius interrupted him quickly.

"That doesn't count!" Sirius said quickly.

"Plus," Remus said, ignoring the other two, "there's no way we're going to leave you here to fend for yourself against all those Slytherins that are going to stay here."

Lily felt warm from the top of her head to the very tips of her toes. She had friends, the kind that would be there for you through thick and thin. She felt almost tipsy with happiness. Somebody cared for her. And not just one somebody, but four! James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail. She couldn't stop smiling.

"You are going to come with us, right?" James asked. At her silent nod (she was still somewhat speechless) he began to explain the plan.

"Alright then! You'll need to be completely packed by the last day of the term. That night after we eat in the Great Hall we'll walk to Hogsmeade and catch the Knight Bus. Have you ever been on the Knight Bus? Oh it's fantastic! Ernie is so freaking awesome. But yeah, from there on it's all fun, games, and food. My mum's the best cook in the entire world, you know. We'll show you around the village where we live. We can buy presents and even venture into some of the Muggle shops. Their gifts are so weird sometimes."

"Oh and we'll have to have a snowball fight!" Remus said excitedly. "Last year Padfoot and Wormtail cheated so we need to have a rematch. Dang it, there's an odd number of players... Oh well! We'll just make it a free for all - every man for himself. And herself since you'll be there, Lily. Poor Wormtail is going to be out right away if it's a free for all."

Sirius, getting hyped up along with the others, added, "We're also going to decorate the house when we get there. It always ends up being a big ordeal because something always goes wrong. You've heard about the killer Christmas tree... Hmm... what else has happened? Oh yeah! That one year when the tinsel tried to crush Moony…"

As James, Sirius, and Remus continued to talk about all the stuff they would do over the holidays and how much fun they would have, Lily's head began to spin from information overload. Or maybe it was content-ness overload. Either way, she was having the time of her life.

* * *

As the foursome's conversation stretched into the wee morning hours, James and Remus decided to call it a day (and a half). Saying goodnight, they headed upstairs to get some sleep. Lily and Sirius, on the other hand, sat up staring at the fire. While Lily had been dead tired earlier, she was now wide-awake at the prospect of going to the Potter's. All kinds of images filled her head.

Her happiness was shattered, though, when Sirius quietly asked, "Why would you have rather stayed here than gone home to see your parents over Christmas?"

Lily attempted to stop her blush from reaching her cheeks, failing miserably. She knew that if it were light, she could have stopped traffic. When she blushed, it clashed horribly with her natural red hair. Red heads just weren't made to have flattering blushes. Although it was dark, she was worried Sirius would see it and know something was terribly wrong. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him still staring at the fire awaiting her response.

"I didn't really feel like going home this Christmas," she lied weakly. When he didn't say anything back she asked him the same question, hoping to take the pressure off herself.

At her question, Sirius' eyes darkened and his eyebrows drew together. Lily watched him closely, his face highlighted by the firelight.

"I'm not welcome at my home anymore."

He paused, and Lily waited patiently. She understood what it felt like to be asked an unwelcome question and would not pressure him into talking about it if he did not wish to. They sat that way for some time, Sirius gazing into the fire and Lily alternating between glancing at him and the hole in the couch. Finally, he continued.

"Black is an old name and a highly respected line, but they're too self-righteous. They, like all the other purebloods, consider anyone not of pureblood to be dirt. Because they thought like this, they have narrowed their approved marriages to only purebloods. This has caused all of us to become severely inbreed. The pureblood lines are thinning and its becoming harder and harder to find someone that's not closely related to you that you can marry. It's disgusting really."

Lily continued to watch him closely. Of course she already knew this, but to hear it from someone that was directly affected by it was different.

"Since the beginning of Hogwarts, my family has always been in Slytherin. Not a single one had been sorted anywhere else and no one ever expected anything to change. That's why I'm not welcome. When I got here and was sorted into Gryffindor, my family was stunned. They hated it, started calling me a blood traitor. My brother, Regulus, is now the shining star of the family, replacing me. You've met my cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa, right? Yeah, when I got here and was sorted into Gryffindor, they made my life a living hell. They dogged my constantly, teasing and calling me a blood traitor. The only reason it didn't bother me was because I had Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs as friends."

He paused for a second, either to gain composure or to fight back his inner anger at his worthless family.

"I dealt with their discrimination towards me for a couple of years until I got fed up with it. That's when I started going to Prongs' house over the holidays. I was thirteen the first time I went and I can't imagine not going now. His house is my house; his family is my family. They accept me and love me as if _**I**_ were their son. That's why I'm not going back to my house anymore. At the end of this year I'm taking all of my stuff and buying myself my own place. I've got enough gold saved up to last a lifetime so it's not like it'll be a problem, and I'll still go to the Potter's over Christmas. It's tradition. Plus, it's not like my family will miss me anyway. They'll probably throw a party just because I'll be gone. 'Good riddance,' they'll say. To them, all I am is a waste of good blood."

They sat there on the couch. Sirius' eyes were still dark and it was obvious he didn't tell this story to everyone who asked. Yes, he had joked about being a traitor to the House of Black the first night they had met, but Lily could tell it hurt him deeply, no matter how much he disliked his family's values. Lily felt sad that he had gone through so much and still had such a long way to go. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a family that hated you.

Just as she was beginning to say something that would hopefully be comforting, Sirius looked at her and smiled.

"I know what you're thinking and please don't. I don't want you to think any differently of me. No pitying, okay? I've come to terms with all of their crap and I've decided that all I need are my friends. They make me happy, you included, and as long as they're there for me, I'm home. It's simple as that. And I believe on that note that I'm going to go to bed."

They both stood up and Sirius stretched, making some noise that sounded suspiciously like a dog. Lily couldn't help but think about how much closer to Sirius Black she now felt. He felt almost like a brother to her.

"You know this means that the next time I ask you something super important about you or your family, you have to answer," he told her.

And although the thought of having to explain her past to someone wasn't exactly inviting, she couldn't help but smile and agree. After everything he had just told her, baring himself like that, there was no way she'd put up a fight.

"Well goodnight, then. I'll see you tomorrow morning," he told her over his shoulder as he walked towards the boy's staircase.

"You know it will most likely be tomorrow afternoon, right?" she laughed. The next day was Saturday, hence their late night (early morning) talk, so they had all day to sleep and recover.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he said through a yawn. "G'night, Lils."

"Goodnight Sirius."

* * *

End Chapter II

R&R

Luckyducky


	3. Journey to the Hollow

**Together Forever**

**By**

**Luckyducky**

* * *

**Chapter III**

**Journey to the Hollow**

The next week passed by in a blur. Between the five days of classes that were left, last minute homework assignments, packing for the Christmas holidays, and keeping up an active social life with the Marauders, the stress was about to kill Lily Evans. Even during final exams at Beauxbatons, she had never felt stretched so thin as she did during those last five days of the term. It was enough to drive anyone bonkers.

Luckily, she had found a spare minute to sit on her bed and just breathe. It was the last day of term and she was leaving that night to go to Hogsmeade with James, Sirius, and Remus. Peter would join them later since his parents had requested he come visit them for at least the first half of the holidays. She smoothed her cover unconsciously even though it was unnecessary since the house elves took care of it on a daily basis. She felt almost sick. Not with nervousness, though, but with a kind of pre-homesickness. Over the past two months, she had grown more attached to Hogwarts than she ever thought possible. It would be somewhat sad to be away from it, even if it was for just three weeks.

"Deep in thought there, Lily?" Sue asked. Ever since Lily's first night at Hogwarts, Sue had been there for her. When the guys had mysteriously disappeared one afternoon and night without explanation and some Slytherins had cornered her and taunted her, it was Sue that comforted her. It was Sue that had stayed up until all hours of the night studying hard since the Marauders, excluding Remus, didn't really believe studying was beneficial. It was even Sue that did the whole girlfriend thing when it came to Lily's first crush at Hogwarts. That actually ended badly because he turned out to be a complete jerk.

"No… well yeah I guess I kind of am. I'm a little sad about having to leave here, even just for Christmas," Lily said.

"That's understandable, Lils. I remember my first year here. I told my parents I wanted to stay here over the holidays just because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving it. They made me come home anyway, but that's beside the point. Then at the end of the year I cried while packing. It felt like I was moving away from home, rather than returning to my actual one. It's a weird feeling, but you'll get used to it. I don't even feel that way anymore, although I'm sure I will during seventh year."

"You're right, as always. It's just because Hogwarts has become my home," Lily replied.

Sue smiled sweetly and returned to her packing (she wouldn't go home until tomorrow, along with the rest of the students), but Lily caught, at the last minute, the strange look that crossed her face.

This had happened occasionally since Lily's first full day at Hogwarts. Except for that first day, she had never asked Sue what was wrong, figuring that she would just tell her in time. After all, they were best friends. Today, however, Lily decided she would ask. If Sue really didn't want to talk about it and got offended, even though she couldn't see Sue acting like that, she would have the whole holidays to get over it.

"Sue," Lily began warily, "do you remember my first night here?"

Sue backed out from under her bed where her upper body had been. She had been there for about three minutes now chunking scrap bits of clothing and paper out randomly, all the while muttering about how her parents would kill her for losing that key. She wiped the frustration off her face as she said she remembered and asked Lily why she asked.

"Well, that next morning you seemed a little weird, like I had done something crazy during the night. I never really asked you about it after that morning, but sometimes you just seem to act like something's really wrong. If you don't feel like telling me, I understand. I just figured you might want to… I don't know… talk about it?" she ended in a question.

Sue stared at Lily, a strange look in her eyes. Sighing quietly, she began.

"The first night you came to Hogwarts, everyone here was wondering why on earth you had transferred. After all, most people that attend one wizarding school never switch halfway through. After a while most of the students just blew it off. You were cool and you were friends with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. That was all everyone else needed to accept you."

Here she paused for a second before continuing.

"I thought it was something deeper though. Like I said, people don't just switch schools like that. That first night you were here, I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. My first thought was that it was because I actually had someone else rooming with me. Then you started screaming. You were yelling about something, cursing people, and breathing really hard. And that wasn't the only night. You still do it from time to time. Sometimes it's just the cursing and heavy breathing, other times it's everything."

Sue, who had not met her eyes throughout this whole confession, slowly raised her eyes to meet Lily's. Lily was surprised to see that Sue looked sad. It obviously pained her to have to say all this. She probably felt that she was prying into Lily's personal life just by saying that; Sue **was** that type of person.

So Lily, who had refused to discuss any details of her past life, decided to talk about what she knew just this once. She explained everything to Sue: what had happened, who had done the worst of it, all the people who were there, and the fact that she has had nightmares since then. The one thing she couldn't explain was why. Sue watched with wide eyes the entire time. She made no move to interrupt and even gasped in all the right places. After Lily had finished, Sue practically leaped the span between them to give her a crushing hug.

"I'm so sorry you've had to deal with that, Lily. I had no idea! I'm such a wanker for being distant to you these past few weeks. Oh Lils, please forgive me?"

"You have nothing to be sorry about! You didn't know so you acted like anyone would have so there's nothing to forgive."

After that, Sue and Lily were inseparable, at least emotionally. Sue was Lily's confidante about all her troubles and worries and vice versa. Basically, they were each other's first real friends.

* * *

Dinner that night in the Great Hall was fabulous, in Lily's opinion. The ceiling was snowing; magnificent Christmas trees stood at various intervals around the Hall decorated with sparkling ornaments; dinner itself was fancier than usual with roasted turkey, ham, dressing, green beans used in various different dishes, caramelized yams, and at least twenty different kinds of desserts all too mouth-watering to even name.

Lily happily stuffed herself with at least one helping of everything. _Such good food just couldn't be taken for granted_, she reasoned with herself. Her Marauder friends, however, had about three servings of everything.

For example: Sirius, who on a normal day was a mindless eating machine, was in heaven. With twice as many dishes as usual, he only took a break from eating to either drink some Pumpkin Juice or to yell at one of his friends for talking too loud and disrupting his concentration. Peter, who seemed to interrupt at all the wrong moments, had been the one to finally crack Sirius' concentration the worst, causing him to be hit by twenty-four potatoes.

However, Sirius' yelling frequently earned him various bits and pieces of leftover food thrown at him in return. In the end, he grabbed another plate and piled the inedible bits they were throwing at him on it. He didn't want to waste the valuable space on his plate with inedible scraps.

"So James," Lily said turning away from mocking Sirius, "are we leaving right after this or are we going to wait a little while?"

"We're probably going to leave right away. The Knight Bus is unpredictable, especially around this time of the year. It could take all night, depending on the amount of travelers on it. I want to try and get home before midnight," he replied around a piece of pie in his mouth.

"E nit boo ish a faw wall oo," Sirius said. Apparently everyone else understood him clearly, although Lily couldn't, and the conversation continued.

"It's not that far to walk to Hogsmeade, Padfoot. We walk there at least three times a term and you never complain. You're going to end up getting fat and lazy and then all the girls will want me," Remus joked

At Remus' words, Sirius swallowed heavily and said in a horrified whisper, "Never! I'll never be fat and la… well, I might become lazy… but I'll never be… fat!"

"I was just joking, mate."

His face relaxed. "Oh. Well in that case…" and a slab of leftover turkey flew the air to land right on Remus' shoulder.

"That's completely uncalled for Padfoot. I was only joking and since when does joking deserve turkey on the shoulder?"

"The joker deserved it ever since he hid my fourth, and best, comb a while back. My hair looked horrible that day because my other three combs needed to be cleaned, so I can never forgive that."

"A while back!" Remus shouted indignantly. "A while back? Padfoot, that happened in our first year here! That was four years ago, if you can remember how to count! You've held that grudge for all this time? It was just one stupid bad hair day…"

"Uh-oh," James said out loud as he and Peter scooted the opposite way of Remus and Sirius.

"What," Lily asked, honestly worried as she looked back and forth from the two scooting away and the two arguing.

"Moony just insulted Padfoot big time," Peter squeaked. "Never, ever, **ever** insult Padfoot's hair decisions."

Lily's mouth gaped open in shock and she couldn't help but snigger. "_That's_ what you guys are so worried about? That's ridiculous. What on earth is Sirius going to do just because of a little comment? Honestly, it can't be as bad as you two are making it out to be," she said calmly.

It was at that moment that the Gryffindor table exploded into action, specifically in the area where the Marauders always sat.

"How **dare** you, Moony!" Sirius shouted as he pinned Remus to the ground. "Let's see how you like having a bad hair day," and began tangling bits of bones and food in his hair. "Not so much fun now, is it!"

"Get off of me! I was not insulting your hair choices I just meant that you shouldn't have held a grudge against me for that long. It really is stupid… ouch… to keep that with you all this… stop it Padfoot! You're causing such a bi…Mmhmmhmh!"

Remus' power of speech was quickly taken away as Sirius began shoving cold green beans into his mouth.

"No talking!"

After some time of sitting and watching this interesting display, a professor came over and threatened to give them both detentions if they didn't stop. With some reluctance, Sirius sat up and, glowering, sat back down at the table and continued eating. Then Remus, still in shock, sat up.

Everyone laughed.

His hair was sticking up in various directions and he looked like he had just come back from a war. There were bits of bone in his hair, along with the stray piece of food. Sirius had knotted and twisted them in until there was no way Remus had any chance of pulling them out or untangling them. His hair alone had been shaped into long spikes with the caramelized yam liquid that was thick and creamy. Lastly, his mouth was stuffed full of green beans.

At seeing Remus, James fell to the floor and Peter beat the table with his fists, both of them laughing uncontrollably. Lily, meanwhile, leaned forward, picked a piece of piecrust out of Remus' hair, and ate it. As she sucked the caramelized yam juice off her finger she couldn't help herself.

"Charming, Remus, dear. Simply charming."

James and Peter dissolved into new fits of laughter, this time Lily joining them, while Sirius just ate his chocolate cake, still glowering.

"Shove off," Remus said sourly as he took a seat at the table again.

"Aww, come on Moony! Learn to take a joke," James said through his laughter.

"That was not a joke, Prongs! That was a barbaric action caused by conceitedness!"

Sirius held up a handful of bones and green beans threateningly, which made Remus laugh kind of nervously and quickly shut his mouth.

* * *

With full bellies and clean hair (Lily had to perform several charms to get the bones and sticky juice out of Remus' hair), the Gryffindor quintet headed upstairs to grab their trunks of clothes.

While in her room, Lily took a few extra minutes to say goodbye to Sue.

"All right, so I'll owl you before Christmas and we'll see if we can meet somewhere for a girl's day out," said Sue.

"And I promise not to get too carried away being with four Marauders all holiday," Lily replied with a smile.

"I'm going to miss you, roomie," Sue said as they hugged. "Have fun and don't forget to owl me sometimes!"

"I wont!" Lily called as she drug her trunk out the door and down the stairs.

At the foot of the staircase stood James, Sirius, and Remus. Seeing her, Sirius ran up the last few stairs and chivalrously offered to carry her trunk the rest of the way.

"Allow me, milady."

"Shut up Sirius," she laughed.

Sirius set her trunk down alongside three other trunks and James quickly performed a nifty shrinking spell and put them in his pocket. Lily turned to Sirius with an I'm-not-kidding look on her face.

"I expected you to carry my trunk the whole way, not shrink it. Some gentleman you are! I could've done that myself!"

"Well, I **was** going to go through all that trouble to look strong, manly, and handsome in your eyes, dear Lily, but I didn't want to hurt myself either. Have to stay in tip top shape for all the women, you see." He grinned cheekily at her while he flexed his muscles and she couldn't help but laugh.

With Remus and Sirius leading the way, James and Lily hung back and talked.

"So where exactly do you live?"

She always liked talking to James; he just made it so easy, so… natural. There had even been a couple of times she'd had to check herself so she wouldn't say too much. If she had nothing to worry about, she felt that she could talk to James for years and years and never experience an awkward silence.

"Well, I grew up in Godric's Hollow. It's a small Muggle village, but there are a few wizarding families that have lived there over the years. I've heard that Dumbledore himself used to live there when he was young. This lady named Bathilda is always telling outrageous stories about him. I don't believe her, though. She's getting a little old and I don't think she's all there anymore, you know?"

"You're going to love my mum. She's the sweetest person I know, and I'm not just saying that because she's my mother. She always lets my friends come over and she never says a single word about it. Cooks for us all the time and everything. Even lent Remus some gold once. She's awesome. She works for the Ministry in the Department of Mysteries."

Lily's eyes lit up at this. The Department of Mysteries was a section of the Ministry where they experimented and tried to figure out all kinds of weird objects and understand some of the basics of wizarding magic. All very fascinating stuff, really. James saw the look in her eyes.

"Sorry Lils. My mum's an Unspeakable. She won't answer any of your questions. Trust me, I've tried; many times, in fact. None of them worked, though. My dad also works for the Ministry. He's head of the Underage Magic Department."

Here James smiled evilly.

"That's why me and my friends get to use magic over the Christmas and summer holidays. Perks of being a Ministry baby, I guess. It's nice, though. Once you meet my parents you can probably use magic underage too. My dad will like you so he'll definitely let you off."

"So you've basically been able to use magic whenever you want for your whole life? Must be nice to not have any restrictions…" Lily said enviously.

"Well, you might think it nice, but it's not all fun and games. Sure I can use whatever magic I want, but my dad always knows all the details: what the spell was, where it was performed, what or who it was performed on, what time, etc. etc. I've been grounded so many times for using spells he didn't deem necessary or proper. My parents are real upstanding people so too much fooling around gets me in trouble."

Lily scoffed at this, "Yeah, I can totally tell that you abide by those rules too!"

"I try not to let it dampen my fun," James smirked.

"Hey you two!" called Sirius from further down the road. "Are you guys going to lollygag around all day or what? I want to get there some time tonight!"

"It's not that big of a rush, Padfoot. The house will still be there no matter what time we leave. Plus, we don't have to wake up early or anything for almost a month," James called back.

"Yeah, but Mrs. P is making apple turnovers to welcome us home for the holidays and I want to get one before Mr. P eats them all!"

It was a well-known fact to everyone but Lily that Mr. Potter suffered from a severe case of apple turnover addiction. Had been since before James was even born. Mr. Potter always joked that that was the reason he married Mrs. Potter.

Lily and James laughed and jogged to catch up with the other two. The four of them walked together in silence for about five more minutes before entering Hogsmeade. By day, the little village was bustling with activity. By night, however, it seemed almost creepy in its deserted-ness. Nobody walked the streets and all the shops were shut down for the night save the tiny bar at the end of the road. That bar, with all its strange travelers, was always open.

Remus sat down on a small bench outside a woman's dress shop to rest. Lily had noticed that he'd been getting paler lately, despite his actions at the dinner table that night, and wondered if he was going to get sick. It would be dreadful for Remus to come down with something over the holidays. As James walked over to sit by Remus, Lily was confused.

James had said something about taking the Knight Bus, but this didn't look like any bus stop Lily had ever seen. She looked from the two boys still sitting on the bench resting, to Sirius who was gazing up at the stars.

"Are we supposed to just wait here for the Knight Bus, then?" Lily asked Sirius.

"Nah," he replied not taking his eyes off the sky. "We'll catch it in a minute. Remus just needs to rest for a moment."

Lily glanced back at Remus who now had his eyes shut and a slightly pained look on his face.

"Can't he just rest on the bus? I'm sure it will be more comfortable than sitting on a nasty little bench in this damp, cold air."

"Blimey, Lils! I keep forgetting that you've never taken the Knight Bus! None of us are going to get much rest on there tonight. Ernie's going to talk your ear off and Todd's driving is just downright scary. No, Remus needs to rest a minute now while everything's calm. He'll just end up feeling worse on the bus."

"What's wrong with him? Is he coming down with the flu or something?"

"That and he's just… uh… he's just been worried," Sirius filled in quickly.

"Worried about what," Lily pressed.

Sirius began to fidget nervously.

"Well… he's, um… well you see he's worried… he's worried about… his grandmother. She's getting old and might kick the bucket any day now. He'll probably go visit her sometime over the holidays."

He quickly changed the topic after his brief explanation.

"You see that cluster of stars right there," he pointed in the direction he'd been staring.

Lily turned her eyes away from Sirius and looked down his finger.

"Yeah…"

"I'm named after those stars. Together, they make up the constellation Sirius. It's supposed to look like a dog but I've never been able to connect the stars and put them together."

Lily turned her head sideways a bit and squinted. She could faintly see the outline of the constellation's muzzle, tail, and back legs.

"Why'd your parents name you after a dog?"

He grinned roguishly at her.

"Well at first I believed what my parents told me about it being a noble name, but then I came to Hogwarts and figured out the truth. I was in fourth year and it was the first time I had a girlfriend. Things started heating up between us and then one night we got kind of carried away. That's when I knew it, why my parents had named me after a dog! It was because I liked to do it dogg…"

Sirius was cut off as James' hand quickly covered his mouth.

"You really didn't want him to finish that sentence, Lily," said James.

But Lily had already figured out what Sirius was going to say and was now blushing a deep scarlet. It was definitely way too much information. There were just some things that were better left unsaid.

James coughed discreetly after giving Sirius a rude look to which Sirius shrugged and said, "She asked!"

"Well, I think Remus is feeling a bit better now so I'll call the Knight Bus, ok?"

When there were no objections, James stuck his wand hand out into the road. Lily thought they all must've looked like idiots. James stood there with his hand sticking straight out and Sirius was helping Remus walk over towards James. Lily flushed a bit more in embarrassment.

Nervously she walked closer to James and was about to ask him if he was sure he knew what he was doing when there was a loud bang and a triple-decker, bright purple bus pulled up out of nowhere. Lily couldn't help but jump. Amazed, she watched as the doors slid open and a middle-aged man stepped out.

"James, Sirius, and Remus! I was expecting you three any day now. Told Todd here to hang around this area until Hogwarts let out for holidays so you wouldn't have to wait very long. After all, it's freezing out here," the man said while hugging the trio. Lily hung back from the group.

"Thanks a lot, Ernie. Oh, and how's Suzanne doing?" James asked 'Ernie.'

"Oh she's doing great! Her due date is almost here. January 3rd, I think the doctor said. Did I tell you it's going to be a boy?" Ernie smiled proudly. "I'll be able to teach him how to do all the stuff on the Knight Bus so that when he's older, he'll be able to continue the family business. Well, it's not really a family business yet, but one day it will be."

James opened his mouth to say something else, but Sirius pushed his way through instead.

"So have you though of any good names yet, Ern?"

"Well, Suzanne doesn't like it that much, but I'd like to name him Stan. I thought that would sound nice: Stan Shunpike. Plus, that was my granddad's name and I figured it would be a nice way to remember him, you know?" he said wistfully.

"I'm sorry about your grandfather, Ernie," said Remus. It was the first time he'd spoken all evening and it looked like it pained him to do so. "He was a really nice man and I think naming your baby after him is great. I'm sure Suzanne will come around eventually."

"Yeah, I hope she does. She'll have to get a move on, though. Only got about a month to decide. Oy, now! Who's this?" Ernie had just spotted Lily.

James reached back and grabbed Lily's upper arm and pulled her forward to stand more in the group.

"Ernie, this is Lily Evans. She's new this year and didn't want to go home to her parents, so I figured I'd invite her over for the holidays."

"New?" Ernie asked. "You're a first year Ms. Evans?"

Lily laughed a bit, "No. I just transferred in early November from Beauxbatons."

Ernie nodded. "Well Ms. Evans, it's a pleasure meeting you, but I daresay it's time to go inside before I turn into an ice cube."

As Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius made their way on board, Ernie glanced at his pocket watch, muttered something about running late, and told Todd to "take it away"… whatever that meant. Lily didn't have much time to wonder, though, because with a bang the bus took off. Not expecting the sudden rush, Lily fell backwards onto the floor and would have skid down the aisle had she not grabbed onto a bed's leg. Upon realizing that she was holding onto a bed, she pulled herself up and looked around.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, Ms. Evans! If you're ever in need of a ride, just hold out your wand hand and we'll come along shortly after to take you wherever you need to go."

Lily only half listened to what Ernie said. She was too preoccupied looking at the bus itself. Sirius and James, like her, were grasping the bedposts of the bed Remus was now laying in. They, it seemed, had not fallen over. Beds lined both walls all the way down to the staircase at the other end of the bus. In the very middle of the bus, hanging from the third floor ceiling, was a chandelier that shook back and forth from the jerkiness of the bus' movements.

Inching her way to a standing position, still grasping the bedposts for dear life, Lily was now able to see a good amount of wizards and witches sleeping in the beds.

_How on earth can they sleep through all of this?_ Lily couldn't help but wonder.

"All right, Lils?" Sirius asked with a smile. Although they had seen her fall over, thankfully they had not laughed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just surprised that's all. Wasn't quite expecting this…" she trailed off.

"It is kind of a shock to first timers," said James. "We've been riding it for years, though. You'll get used to it eventually."

He smiled at her reassuringly and she smiled back.

"We usually stay upstairs since there's less people up there," he added on. "Sirius if you'll help Remus, I'll help Lily."

She began to protest, saying that she didn't need his help when the bus gave a frightening lurch and she almost lost her already unsteady balance. She swallowed her protest and took James' offered arm gratefully.

Slowly, they made their way down the aisle, all of them gripping the bedposts on each side, and then up the stairs. The third floor contained the same furniture and, luckily, no other people. They made their way to the opposite end of the bus, edging nervously around the chandelier since there was only one set of bedposts to hang on to.

Upon reaching their destination, Sirius helped Remus into a bed and then promptly fell onto another one and began to snore. James walked Lily to the bed on the other side of Remus.

"So you guys have taken this bus every year for the past four years?" she asked, amazed.

"Yeah. It's kind of a crazy ride, but Ernie and Todd are really nice and they get you where you need to go fast. It's really handy if you're in a bind and can't apparate."

"I bet," Lily mumbled to herself, looking around the second floor.

"Usually Ernie will come up and talk to us for a while, but there were quite a few people downstairs so he'll probably just hang out down there this time. You can meet him next year, though. Or maybe we'll take a trip this summer and use the Knight Bus. You'll really like talking to him, Lils. His dad used to be the Minister of Magic back in the day. I'm sure you could go on and on with him, right?" James smiled at her.

"Probably so if his dad was Minister! That's incredible! But he chose to work on the Knight Bus instead of going into the Ministry. Wow…"

"Yeah, it's a really interesting story, but I've also heard it billions of times," he laughed. "But anyways, if you're going to be ok I think I'm going to go ahead and get some sleep."

Lily waved him away towards another bed and looked around the bus some more.

"It'll be a few hours before we get to Godric's Hollow and when we get there you'll have to meet my parents before going back to bed, so if you don't want to be too tired tomorrow, you might want to think about getting some sleep too," he advised her as he pulled back the covers on his bed.

Overwhelmed, but beginning to feel the tiredness creeping in, Lily too pulled back her covers and snuggled into the warmth. She hadn't realized how cold she'd been.

"G'night Lils," James said softly from beneath the covers pulled over his head.

"Goodnight James," she replied.

_I'm never going to be able to fall asleep_ Lily thought as she listened to the noise downstairs and felt the bus' constant motion. _It's impossible…_

That was the last thing she remembered thinking as sleep crept up and overtook her.

* * *

_The menacing voice…_

_The sound of someone's last dying gasp…_

_Eyes meeting hers through the grate…_

"_Are you afraid of death?"_

_A piece of flying wood from the door…_

_Insane laughter…_

_A flash of green light…_

_Quick glimpse of frightened eyes…_

_Splashes of blood…_

_Running through puddles…_

_A soft, innocent tune…_

_Green, blue, red, yellow…_

_Gasping for breath…_

_A chilling howl…_

_She felt despair…_

_She felt helpless…_

_She felt…_

_Cold._

* * *

Lily jerked awake and backhanded Sirius in the face. As he stumbled backwards, she attempted to calm herself down and proceeded to wipe all the sweat off her face with the blankets covering herself.

In shock from the seemingly unprovoked attack, Sirius steadied himself and asked, "What the hell was that for?"

He didn't seem really angry, just more stunned than anything. Smiling sheepishly, Lily replied that it was an accident and that he'd startled her awake.

"Well it bloody well better have been an accident, Lils! I was just trying to wake you up and all I get is a slap in the face!"

Stalking to the other boy's beds while mumbling to himself, he shook them awake before returning to his bed. Yawning, James and Remus stood up and stretched.

"Sirius, mate, what's wrong with you?" Remus asked with concern at Sirius' obvious bad mood.

He glanced discreetly at Lily before replying, "Nothing… just didn't like having to wake up in the middle of the night."

Lily smiled gratefully at Sirius who nodded in return. Looking at everyone, she couldn't help but notice that Remus looked infinitely better than before she had fallen asleep.

Lily froze. At the thought of falling asleep, her dream instantly returned to the front of her mind. It had been previously forgotten when she had woken up to find Sirius angry that she'd slapped him. Had she made any noise in her sleep? Had Sirius noticed her sweating before waking her up? He hadn't acted like he had…

"Lils, are you planning on coming with us or are you going to stay on the bus all night?" James joked. Apparently they had reached their destination.

Wiping all thought of the dream from her mind, she followed the boys downstairs. Instead of taking twenty minutes, as it had last night, it only took two for them all to get to the front of the bus. It was much easier to walk on the bus when it wasn't lurching and jerking about.

"Godric's Hollow," Ernie announced smartly.

As the quartet made their way off the bus, the boys called out "Congratulations," "Thanks," and "See you soon." Lily, however, was selfishly hoping not to see the Knight Bus too soon after a trip like that.

As the Knight Bus pulled away, the group turned around and Lily couldn't help but grin. It was picturesque; simply the most beautiful house she had ever seen! Even in the dead of night and not being able to see everything one hundred percent perfect, Lily was jealous that she'd never grown up in a house like this.

It was a two-story brick house. A sidewalk led through the well-kept lawn to the front door. Framing the front door were manicured bushes that followed down the sides of the house. Basically, it was something like a dream house to her.

"James, your home is beautiful!"

"I guess it's alright. To me it's not all that great because I've lived here forever, but it's home so it'll do, yeah?" he replied with a smile.

Crunching through the snow, Lily followed the boys to the front door. As James opened the door and everyone filed in, a rush of warmth met her. She stomped her feet on the welcome mat to warm her frozen toes.

"Mum! We're home!" James yelled out as he shut the door behind her.

Lily was surprised to hear him yelling. It was well past midnight and she had assumed that James' parents would be in bed, no matter what James had said about her meeting them when she got there. No parents that she had ever known stayed up that late when they had to go to work the next day.

After James' yell, a rush of activity followed. A woman's voice could be heard from ahead; the boys rushed forward, shoving each other the whole way; a man's voice was heard soon after the boys disappeared around the corner; music began playing; and then the sound of plates.

Lily stood there not knowing what to do until James' head appeared from around the doorway and told her to get her butt in there if she wanted any apple turnovers. Cautiously she made her way through the doorway and her mouth watered at the delicious smell. Mr. and Mrs. Potter stopped talking at the site of her and stood up.

"H-hello Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter. I'm Lily Evans. Thank you so much for letting me stay over here for Christmas. I really hope I'm not intruding…" Lily said nervously.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter both smiled welcomingly and Mrs. Potter offered her a seat at the table.

"It's no problem whatsoever, Lily. It'll actually be nice to have another female presence in the house. Over the holidays, all the testosterone begins to get somewhat overwhelming," Mrs. Potter said. "Oh look at me, forgetting my manners! I'm Jocelyn and this is my husband Richard."

Lily shook Jocelyn and Richard's hands, "Pleased to meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you as well," Richard Potter began, "but first off we'll get some things straight."

Lily's smile faltered a bit.

"Jocelyn and I don't hold up proper manners around the household. That's why we prefer you to call us Jocelyn and Richard. No Mr. and Mrs. Potter business. Unless, of course you wish to be like Sirius who insists on calling us Mr. and Mrs. P."

Sirius shrugged, "It's been beaten into me since I was young to always say Mr. or Mrs. when speaking to an adult. I've done it for too many years; there's just no way I could stop now."

Once Richard had explained everything, Lily's smile was back as she replied, "No problem."

While Richard Potter began asking the three boys about the ride over from Hogwarts, Lily tried one of Jocelyn's famous apple turnovers. From the first bite, Lily felt like she was in heaven. The food melted in her mouth and she couldn't say enough to Jocelyn how amazing they were.

"It's just a family recipe that will probably be forgotten unless James gets married. He can't cook for anything," Jocelyn laughed.

"I was surprised when we got here that Richard and yourself were still awake. Don't you have to work tomorrow?" Lily asked the question she had thought of earlier.

"Oh yes, we both have to work tomorrow. Richard will be worse off than me because he actually has a double shift. However, since James' first year at Hogwarts we have waited up to welcome him home for the holidays. I guess it's just a tradition, and we can't very well stop it now."

About thirty minutes later, all the apple turnovers were gone and Jocelyn was insisting they all go up to bed and sleep for a while before tomorrow.

"James, dear, show Lily where she'll be staying. I think Abigail's old room should be all right for her," Jocelyn called.

"Oh you'll love her room. Abigail was one of Mum's old friends from Hogwarts that used to come visit when they were younger. They grew apart over the years, though, and last I heard they were living in Switzerland. Her room's nice though, and Mum hardly ever lets anyone stay in it," James explained on their way upstairs.

"Well I guess that makes me a lucky girl, huh?" Lily joked.

"G'night Lils, G'night Prongs!"

"Goodnight Lily, Goodnight Prongs."

Sirius and Remus called out their 'goodnights' as they passed up James and Lily in the hall and headed into two separate rooms farther down.

"Goodnight guys!" they both called out in return.

"Alright," said James turning back to Lily, "so this is your room. You have a bathroom in your room so you don't have to worry about sharing, and there should be plenty of towels and soap and stuff in there for you. If you need anything, my bedroom's right across from yours. Don't worry about waking me up either, ok? I don't mind."

"Oh! And here," he took out her trunk from his pocket and un-shrunk it, "is your trunk."

"I think I got everything," Lily said as she made her way into her room. "Thanks for letting me come, James. It really means a lot."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Just didn't want you to be lonely or anything, you know? Anyways, goodnight," he said as he entered his room.

"Goodnight James."

After closing her door, Lily drug her trunk to the bed, pulled out some pajamas and changed into them, then crawled into bed. She began to consider whether she should get up and take a shower, but fell asleep before she could finish her thought.

* * *

As Jocelyn and Richard Potter got ready for bed after cleaning up downstairs, they discussed their son's intentions for bringing a girl home for the holidays.

"It's just so very unlike James, Jocelyn. He's never brought a girl home, even when he was dating that Ravenclaw girl for a year and a half. It's just strange."

"Richard, dear, I honestly think James is telling the truth. He says that she is just a friend of theirs that wasn't going to go home so he invited her over here. There doesn't **have** to be something going on for James to invite a girl home. He says she's just a friend and I believe him. Just relax, sweetheart, and give her a chance," Jocelyn said as she rubbed her husband's shoulders.

"I have no problem giving her chances, Jocelyn; she's a sweet girl. I just hope James isn't lying to us about her," Richard said.

"He's not. Trust me, I can feel it."

"Well if you feel it, then you must be right," Richard said, giving in. "Your feelings seem to always be correct and I've learned to listen to them."

"She's a good girl and James isn't a liar. I actually think they'd be a good match," Jocelyn said slyly.

"What! I'm over here worried about them being together and doing something in our house and you're there **egging** it on? Ugh!"

"Oh sweetheart, I'm not saying I want them to be together, and I'm not going to egg anything on. All I'm saying is that I could see them together. They look like they would compliment each other."

"Well please do me a favor, Jocelyn, and stay out of our son's love life. It would be just wrong for you to set our son up. Anyways, I'm sure Sirius will egg something along better than you could if he senses it also," Richard laughed.

* * *

Upstairs, Lily tossed and turned in her bed. Sweat dripped off her forehead and soaked through her pajamas, into the mattress. Her hair was plastered down to her face as she whipped her head this way and that. The comforter lay discarded on the floor while the sheets were twisted up in her legs.

"No… no… please…" she whispered into the darkness of her room.

Flashes of the incident plagued her dreams. They were a frightening kaleidoscope of colors, shapes, and sounds. But through the entire dream, heard above everything else, was the menacing voice that was the core of her deepest fears:

"_**Are you afraid of death, Lily Evans?"**_

* * *

End Chapter III.

R&R

Luckyducky


	4. It's Beginning to Feel Like Christmas

A big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!

Reviews make me very happy )

Also, I know that Peter has not made much of a show yet in this fic. He's a sort of quiet boy and doesn't like to say much, so he kind of gets left out of a lot of conversations. As of right now, he is currently staying with his parents through Christmas day and will come to the Potter's afterwards.

**Together Forever**

**By**

**Luckyducky**

* * *

**Chapter IV**

**It's Beginning to Feel Like Christmas**

Three days into the Christmas holidays and Lily already felt like a natural-born Potter. There was no discrimination between her and the other three boys and no awkwardness between James' parents and her. Everyone was so welcoming that she felt like she'd been coming there for years already.

She'd cooked with Mrs. Potter a couple of times (new recipes that she'd **have** to remember), helped Mr. Potter and the guys undo a nasty charm someone had placed on the lawn mower out back (it was just for show for the Muggle neighbors, they never actually used it), and talked to the both of them about careers in the Ministry.

While Mr. and Mrs. Potter described all the Ministry careers that specialize in Charms or Potions (her two strongest suits), she found herself very unexcited about the whole prospect. This really did surprise her seeing how she'd been planning on going into one of those fields for quite some time now. She still had a few years left to make up her mind though, so she didn't let it bother her too much.

What did interest her was a discussion between Mr. Potter, James, and herself about the Auror division in the Ministry. She found out that the current Aurors were letting the section fall apart and had recently become so disorganized that they were having trouble hiring new Aurors, let alone training the ones they already had.

"They're letting it go to the dogs and it's a real shame because they've hired some extremely talented kids lately," Richard said unhappily. "If the heads of the department could pull themselves together and get some stuff done, those kids could become some of the best Aurors we've had in decades."

"Like who are some of the newcomers?" Lily asked.

"Well, some of them are as lazy as their bosses, but there's a few that really stand out. What are their names? I usually only hear about the people through the grapevine. I know I've heard loads of good things about Frank Longbottom. There are two pretty good guys named something Shacklebolt and Edgar Bones. Then, of course, there's Alice. She's the shining star of the bunch, besides maybe Frank. You remember Alice don't you James?"

James thought for a minute, "Yeah, vaguely. She graduated when I was in third year, right?" he asked his father.

"Probably somewhere around there. Heard she just took her certification exam last week a year early and passed with flying colors. It's no wonder she's so advanced, though. Her parents come from a pretty old and talented line of wizards and witches so she comes by it naturally. I guess it doesn't hurt to be trained by Alastor Moody either!" Richard exclaimed.

"Alastor Moody?" Lily didn't know any of these people.

"He's one of the most talented Aurors in the department," James explained. "He's not head or anything yet, but he's caught more dark wizards than any two heads put together."

"If you're planning on staying here the whole holidays, Lily, you'll meet most of these people. Jocelyn and I know most of them because through the Ministry and we all usually have some small get together for employees during Christmas," said Richard. "That'll be especially beneficial to you if you're looking for a future Ministry job. With all of the different departments here, you'll be able to talk to every one of them for hours if you wanted."

Lily smiled and nodded, excited about the opportunity.

"All I know is that once I've become an Auror, I'm going to start cleaning house of all the riffraff. I'll turn that department around."

"James, I didn't know you wanted to be an Auror!" Lily said, surprised.

"Yeah," James said sheepishly. "It's kind of been a lifelong dream. Never really thought about doing anything else. Actually, nothing else ever seemed interesting."

"Well, it's a noble job if you're dedicated and hardworking. Of course, there are plenty of chances of death, but what do you expect when dealing with the capture of dark wizards and witches?" Richard said.

"The idea of death doesn't scare me," said James. "I know that sounds kind of morbid, but it doesn't. Of course, I don't want to die, but if I did die while working as an Auror, I would be proud that at least I died doing something right."

"That's a good way to look at it, I guess," said Lily somewhat nervously. At James' bold statement that he wasn't afraid of death, her past was forcibly brought to the front of her mind. She'd been asked that very question not three months ago.

* * *

"Alright Marauders, gather round!" Sirius yelled loudly.

The four of them had been sitting in the living area relaxing and playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess when Mrs. Potter had come in and told them to decorate the tree. She claimed that Christmas was only four days away and the house needed to be beautified and ready for any guests that might stop by. Immediately the three guys shifted into action mode.

This led to the four of them being hunched in a circle. Each person's arms were thrown across the shoulders of the people next to them. To Muggles, it would look like they were discussing the next sports play.

"Ok," James began. "Everyone here except Lily understands the risks of decorating the Potter house Christmas tree. Decorating this tree could quite possibly be deemed one of the top five most dangerous events in our world. Something goes wrong every year, no matter how hard we try."

Sirius and Remus nodded gravely in understanding.

"Luckily, none of these accidents have ever proved fatal, although that tinsel almost got Moony. Thank goodness my mum was there or Moony might have been a goner."

Lily fought back a smile as she glanced from James to Sirius to Remus. This was no joke, not this time. They were 100 serious about this whole tree decorating business. Because of the grim looks on all of their faces, she couldn't help the giggle that slipped out. Instantly all three guys looked to her.

"You think this is funny? You think that we're joking?" Sirius asked her.

"You think it sounds funny that I almost died because of that tinsel?" accused Remus.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Lily," James said. "You need to take this stuff seriously – shut up Sirius. We're not kidding when we say that something bad happens every year. Sure it's fun decorating the tree and we can have a good time. All I'm saying is that we all need to be ready for whatever's going to happen."

"It's only a matter of time before someone gets badly hurt," Sirius concluded.

Lily, who was shocked at the responses and accusations she had received for one little giggle, could only nod silently.

"Ok, everyone," Remus said. "Break on the count of twelve…"

"Twelve? What happened to three?" Lily began.

"Three..."

"Six…"

"Nine…"

"TWELVE!"

After the break, Remus and James headed outside to get the Christmas tree from the storage unit. Yes, it was a two-person job. Not because of their fear, though. Carrying in the Christmas tree was a two-person job because the tree was about one-third taller than all other normal trees and twice as wide. Since their living area was so large, the Potters figured a bigger tree would look better.

"Sirius, why did you guys break on the count of twelve? What's wrong with the standard three?"

"Exactly what you said is wrong with it, Lils. Breaking on the count of three is the standard that everyone uses. Naturally, that means we have to use something else. Twelve just sounded good at the time so it just kind of stuck."

"You guys are ridiculous," Lily said while shaking her head.

"We know. Oh, here come Moony and Prongs…"

Lily winced at the sounds that traveled through the house with Remus, James, and the tree. At last they drug the tree into the living room after banging it on just about every other piece of furniture in the house. They set it up in the farthest corner of the room and then everyone stood back to look at what all needed to be done.

"So who's going to tackle what this year?" Sirius asked happily. Despite all the troubles that came with the decorating, it was still one of the most exciting times of the Christmas holidays.

"Well, if it's the tinsel, you can count me out," Remus said angrily. "I've had enough tinsel to last me a lifetime…"

"Don't worry, Moony. I'll do the tinsel this year," said James.

"Thanks Prongs," Remus said gratefully. "I guess I'll put ornaments on the tree…"

"I'll do the lights!" Sirius yelled.

"Uh-oh…" James said nervously. "That leaves Lily with the stockings and figurines to put up around the house…"

The boys all exchanged scared looks.

Lily was just confused.

"What's wrong with that? How bad can some stockings and little glass figurines be?"

"Haven't you been listening, Lils? **Anything** can be bad! What's especially bad about the stockings and figurines is the fact that nothings ever gone wrong with them."

Lily held up her hands, "So let me get this straight. The stockings and figurines are bad because nothing's ever gone wrong with them? It seems to me that that would be a good thing, but maybe I'm just being stupid," she said sarcastically.

"Lily, you just don't get it! You see, the horror goes around from one section to the other. One year it's the tinsel, the next the tree itself, after that it's the ornaments, then the lights, then the food, then the drinks, then the presents, and so on and so forth. If the stockings have never gone wrong, it's most likely going to happen to them this year!" Remus explained, his voice getting louder with every word until he was practically yelling at her.

"Alright guys, I promise I'll be super careful!" Lily conceded.

She truly thought that they were being ridiculous, but she didn't dare say anything more about it for fear of an argument breaking out.

Besides, how bad could it be?

Decorating a Christmas tree couldn't be **that** hard now could it?

* * *

Two hours later, Lily called herself an idiot for not believing the Marauders. She had been so wrong that it was funny… or I guess not funny depending on how you look at the situation.

The Potter's Christmas tree was evil. There was no other word for it.

But it didn't just stop with the tree.

Oh no.

It was the tree, the stockings, the figurines, the ornaments, and the lights. All of the decorations had teamed up against them.

It really was unfair.

I mean, look at the odds: one tree, seven stockings, forty-eight figurines, ninety-six ornaments, and nineteen strings of lights against four teenagers.

James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius didn't even stand a chance.

The only reason no one was more hurt than they already were was because the figurines had gotten confused and gone after the ornaments instead of the four teens.

It had been chaos, to say the least, and it had all begun with the tree.

* * *

_Lily had been hanging the stockings from the shelves on one of the bookcases and James had been stringing the tinsel at various points around the room when it all began._

_Apparently the tree didn't appreciate Sirius and Remus hanging lights and ornaments on it this year and, thus, decided to fall over when the both of them had their backs turned. It landed unmercifully on Sirius, promptly squashing him beneath it. Panicked, he began to yell for help. _

_However, before Remus or James could help him out from beneath the tree, the ornaments Remus had been hanging jumped off and began making their way towards the other three. Obviously, they did not like being dumped onto the floor and had decided to blame it on James, Remus, and Lily._

_Lily remembered thinking how unique she and her friends must be. After all, how many teenagers get to say ninety-six ornaments attacked them? _

_With their backs to a bookcase, the ornaments had now trapped the three teens. They huddled there trying to figure out what to do, the only sounds being the clinking of the ornaments and the feeble cries of Sirius who was still trapped under the tree._

_Suddenly, the strings of lights that had been wrapped around the tree unraveled themselves and began their own form of terror. While half of them slid under the tree to secure Sirius, the other half slithered through the ornaments and began to twist themselves around the remaining three's ankles. _

_James grunted as he hit the floor hard after being tripped, while Remus valiantly tried to defend Lily. Lights made their way up his legs but he ignored them and continued to rip lights off of Lily's ankles and throw them across the room. Since James was already lying on the floor, trapped for the most part, the lights that had been flung across the room wrapped themselves around his arms. _

_Remus, who had been finally bested by the lights on his own body, fell to the floor with James. The three guys were now out of action. James' and Remus' arms and legs were bound with lights while glass ornaments beat themselves relentlessly against their exposed heads. The ornaments hitting their heads didn't hurt, but the glitter that fell into their eyes did._

_Lily was now honestly frightened. She cried out and kicked at the lights and ornaments that were making their way towards her. After one particularly strong kick at some lights, she lost her balance and bumped into the bookcase behind her._

_Instantly, the stockings she had been hanging came to life. One wrapped itself tightly around Lily's head, two others teamed up to wrap her arms to her sides, one wrapped itself around her legs, and the remaining three zoomed above their heads waiting for a victim. The stocking around Lily's head muffled her yelling which became urgent as she began loosing her balance due to the stocking around her legs. Like the two guys before her, she lost her balance and fell face-forward. Luckily, she partly landed on something soft. Soon, though, she felt the beating of little glass ornaments against her head._

_After a few minutes of struggling, Lily managed to bite the stocking wrapped around her head. She guessed that stockings could feel pain when it quickly relinquished its hold on her head and began zooming around the ceiling with the others. Lily took the quick reprieve from the battle to catch her breath, ignoring the ornaments that were still relentlessly beating themselves against her stomach and legs. Stealthily she looked around and took in her surroundings, hoping to form some sort of plan. _

_She noticed that the something soft she had landed on when she fell just happened to be Remus who stared at her with wide eyes. James lay perpendicular to Remus, both bound and gagged by strings of lights. The ornaments still beat against their heads. _

_Suddenly she heard a rustling sound. Frantic, Lily glanced around the room looking for the next wave of attack. The stockings had even stopped zooming around in case it happened to be a potential victim. Additionally, the ones that had been on Lily's legs and arms left to join their comrades. Then, with a great deal of noise, the tree was shoved aside and Sirius jumped up from under it. _

_He violently threw the remaining lights from his body (she didn't know how he managed to escape) and quickly ducked the flying stockings. He glanced briefly in shock at his three bound friends before tackling two of the stockings. However, in the short time he had his back turned, one of the stockings attacked. Like with Lily, it wrapped itself tightly around his head. He immediately let go of the other stockings to try and unwrap the one on his head._

_It seemed the other stockings were enjoying watching this display as they casually zoomed around the room. Sirius, however, struggled with his attacker, eventually banging into the bookcase with all the figurines in it. At the sudden movement, forty-eight small Christmas figurines attacked. To Lily, time seemed to go in slow motion: _

_She saw Sirius fighting with the stocking as the figurines used him as a soft landing. _

_She saw James and Remus still tied up with lights._

_She saw the stockings flying overhead._

_She saw the ornaments clinking around on the floor and against the bound teenagers._

_She saw the lights Sirius had thrown off lying like casualties on the floor._

_She saw the figurines making their way towards James, Remus, and herself._

_And then she saw their wands. _

_They were lying on the table near the kitchen door. All she had to do was make it across the room to the table and then she could hex these ornaments into next year. Deciding it was now or never, she stood up, took one step, and fell back to the ground. At her sudden movement the ornaments had gathered beneath her feet, causing her to stumble over them and end up right where she started. _

_Lily groaned at the pain in her knees and was just about to begin slamming her fists down on the dainty ornaments when she realized that something else was already doing a spiffy job. The figurines, which she had thought were coming for James, Remus, and herself, were now attacking the ornaments. _

_Lily sat there and watched until the figurines had cleared out a majority of the ornaments and then began crawling slowly towards the door. She could hear the sounds of the war between the ornaments and figurines behind her, as well as the occasional flutter of a stocking, but she never paused. Finally, she reached the table with their wands, grabbed hers, and blasted hexes at all the decorations. _

_They all fell silently to the floor looking as innocent as she had originally thought._

_Oh, what a foolish girl she had been._

_As James, Sirius, and Remus slowly got up, rubbing various sleeping limbs, they all surveyed the living area._

_The tree was leaning against the far wall. Half of the lights were in pieces scattered near Lily while the rest were in a pile around James and Remus. The stockings were scattered randomly around the room where they had fallen mid-flight. The figurines had destroyed most of the ornaments, while they alone remained intact. Pieces of glass littered the entire floor, giving the room a disco ball effect._

_The living area, instead of being beautified like Mrs. Potter had requested, now strongly resembled a war casualty zone._

_As the four teenagers met in the middle of the room and looked at each other, Sirius was the only one to say anything:_

"_I told you so."_

* * *

It really hadn't ended up as bad as they had originally thought. When Mrs. Potter came home and saw all the damage, she chuckled to herself and smiled sympathetically at the boys.

"Maybe next year, guys. One Christmas you'll beat these decorations without causing so much damage."

Then she waved her wand at the room. The tree righted itself, lights and ornaments flying to their proper spots on it. The stockings re-hung themselves on one bookcase and the figurines went back to the other bookcase. Lily looked on in disbelief at how quickly Mrs. Potter had done what they could not.

"Why didn't we just do that to start with?" she asked incredulously.

"Because," began Mrs. Potter, "it's a sort of tradition with the boys. You have to admit it was kind of fun."

The twinkle in Jocelyn Potter's eyes could keep Lily disgruntled for long and soon she was also smiling.

"It's all about how you handle the decorations," Mrs. Potter said. "If you handle them a certain way, you'll gain their respect. After that they're no problem. These guys are just too rough so they always have a battle on their hands."

"MUM!" James yelled. "YOU NEVER TOLD US THAT!"

"Mrs. P that's totally unfair!" exclaimed Sirius.

Remus just shook his head.

Mrs. Potter smiled sweetly at the boys, "I wanted to see how long it took you guys to figure out how to make them work without having a mini-war. Another reason was that it was funny to see how the messes got worse year after year. This year was definitely the worst though. Congratulations!"

And with that, Mrs. Potter walked through the door into the kitchen to make dinner for that night.

"I can't believe she never told us that!" James ranted. "My own mother letting us get beat up year after year just because she thought it was funny to watch us get worse over the years."

"Well look on the bright side, James," Lily reasoned.

"What bright side?" he muttered.

"The Christmas decorations are done."

* * *

After eating lunch the day after the Christmas Decoration War, James decided that Lily needed to see the sights around Godric's Hollow.

"You'll probably love it, Lils, since you're – you know – muggle born and all that. Most of the shops are all full of Muggle gifts, but they're really different. I've been in some of the Muggle shops around here and all their merchandise was really shoddy and cheap looking. The stuff in these Muggle shops looks really nice, I think you'll really like it," said James.

"Maybe you'll find some nice gifts for your parents," Remus offered.

Lily stubbornly pushed aside the sick feeling that always settled into her stomach at the mention of her family. Instead, she smiled gratefully and said, "Maybe so."

"There's also a couple of wizarding shops. They're down a back road so the Muggles can't find them. They carry some nice gifts, too. That's usually where I buy the gifts for my parents," James said.

"Where's Padfoot at?"

James motioned over his shoulder towards the stairs, "Fixing his hair. He said there was too much glitter in it and that that would take away from his sexiness."

Lily laughed out loud, "You're joking!"

"Sadly enough, we're not," said Remus. "Over the years he's become hot stuff in Godric's Hollow, even with the Muggle girls. That means he thinks he always has to look perfect to keep the girls coming after him. He never steps out of the house without being dressed 'sexy enough' and having his hair combed to perfection."

"It really is pathetic how far he takes it sometimes," added James.

James, Remus, and Lily waited for about five more minutes before they heard a door slam followed by footsteps thundering down the stairs. Sirius rounded the corner quickly and asked if they were ready.

"Actually, Padfoot, we've been ready for about ten minutes now," Remus said grumpily.

"Touchy, touchy, Moony. No need to be rude. I know your time of the month is coming and all that, but still…"

Lily, who had her back turned to the trio of boys, missed the violent gestures and angry looks that James and Remus sent towards Sirius. Remus mouthed was mouthing something to Sirius when Lily turned around. Quickly, all three boys dropped their arms and looked at her pleasantly.

"Ready then, Lils?" James asked politely, offering his arm.

She looked at him for a minute before taking his arm. James led the way out of the house with Lily while Sirius and Remus trailed behind.

As they headed slowly down the street (the snow was pretty thick), James explained the history of the neighborhood. However, no matter how much he talked, he couldn't cover up the heated whispers that came from behind them. Apparently, Sirius and Remus were arguing about something that had been said.

"I can't believe that you live in the neighborhood named after Godric Gryffindor," Lily said amazed. "I bet it cost a whole bunch to get a spot here."

"Actually, it really wasn't that expensive, from what my parents told me. The majority of the people that live here are Muggles, which means that many purebloods don't want to stay here. They move to more exclusive areas that are designated for old pureblood families only. Because of all that, the house was really cheap for my family. We bought it for the price Muggles would have paid."

"So how long has this house been in your family?"

James thought for a minute, "Hmmm… my dad has said that this house had been passed down in his side of the family for generations; every Potter lived in it at some point or another. I would imagine this house has had Potters in it for hundreds of years since Potter is one of the older lines of pureblood wizards."

"That's neat," said Lily. "I had no idea that you were completely pureblood? You don't act like it at all."

"Well, there might be a little bit of Muggle in me somewhere," he laughed. "My dad's side is all pureblood, but my mum's has a little mix in it. No one can really tell that, though. For all anyone else can tell, I'm a pureblood. So are Padfoot and Moony. Wormtail's really the only one who's got a mix in him."

Lily paused for a minute before asking, "Your nicknames are so strange. Which reminds me, you guys never did tell me how you came up with them."

James lifted his hand to muss up his hair, suddenly flustered.

"Well… uh…"

"Just don't do it again!" Remus suddenly yelled from behind them.

"Alright, Moony! I'm sorry!" Sirius yelled back.

As the two other boys caught up with James and Lily and they entered the main part of the village, she completely forgot her previous question.

"So," James said quickly, "does anyone feel up to some Christmas shopping? It's only three days away and I need to get gifts for a few people."

"Sounds good to me, Prongs."

"Alright. I guess we can just start here and make our way around the square."

The first shop the quartet entered was a woman's clothing shop. The boys were planning on passing it up without a second thought, but Lily insisted they go in.

"I might find something for Sue and Mrs. Potter in here!"

As Lily walked around the shop looking at various outfits and accessories, the boys trailed behind her complaining constantly. After about fifteen minutes of looking, she decided on a pretty pair of earrings and a light blue sweater for Sue. Once they had exited the store, the boys cheered (Lily rolled her eyes) and led the way to a home decorating shop that sold furniture and accent pieces.

James, Remus, Lily, and Sirius all pitched in to buy a rather expensive antique bookshelf that James had said his dad had been wanting for years. After paying, James told the man his address so they could ship the piece there on Christmas. Lily had been about to ask why he didn't just shrink it when she remembered that these people were all Muggles.

The day continued pretty much the same. The foursome would go into any shop that looked interesting, mostly because Lily hadn't ever been there before, and they very often left with some sort of gift.

Once they had circled the entire square and visited the little alley that housed the wizard shops, they headed home. Their arms were full of gifts for family and friends. After Lily had contributed to the bookshelf, she had purchased a set of dishes for Mrs. Potter, three nice shirts for Peter, an everything-included broom kit for James, a set of books for Remus, and a bunch of hair styling products for Sirius.

They were walking down the street and were just a couple of blocks away from James' home when a squeal was heard followed by someone shouting, "Sirius!"

"Mary, darling!" Sirius cried back charmingly.

He set his gifts on the ground gently (he said there was something breakable) and turned to face the girl that was jogging towards them. Lily watched as a slight girl with wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, and full lips walked up to Sirius and hugged him around his neck.

"I missed you," she said softly in his ear.

He flashed her a winning smile in response and began kissing her.

Lily's mouth dropped open in shock at his forward actions.

"C'mon Lils. You don't want to stay here and watch them. It'll just make you sick," James said while pulling at the sleeve of her jacket.

Slowly, she turned and followed Remus and Sirius up the street.

"I didn't know Sirius was dating anyone," she said.

"Oh, he's not," James replied. "He just kind of drifts from girl to girl never really dating any of them. He doesn't like to stay committed for too long or he gets bored."

"What's bad is that the girls know that he's like that, but they go to him anyway," Remus called over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway in the Potter's house.

As James and Remus made their way into the kitchen to get something to eat, Lily decided to go ahead and go upstairs and wrap her gifts. She dumped them unceremoniously onto her bed and took of her shoes and jacket. Curious, she drew back the curtains to one of the windows in her room that faced the street.

Sirius and Mary were no longer out there.

She shook her head and laughed quietly. She had a pretty good idea as to what they were doing.

Lily, worn out from the long day, lay down on her bed and relaxed for a minute. She could not remember ever being this happy during Christmas, even with her own family. Her Marauder friends brought so much fun into her life. She couldn't imagine where she would be right now had they not befriended her.

Stretching, she sat up and began wrapping the gifts carefully. She had brought Mrs. Potter's extravagant supply of wrapping paper into her bedroom so she could make every present different. A little under thirty minutes later she was finished and piled them beside the door to take downstairs later.

Right now, though, she was going to write a letter to Sue. Thinking of her today had made her realize how much she missed some teenage female company. Rummaging through her trunk, she pulled out some parchment and a quill and sat down at the small desk to write.

_Dear Sue,_

_Christmas with the guys certainly is different _

_than anything I've ever experienced._

_Mr. and Mrs. Potter are both very kind. They're_

_really laid back and relaxed which makes it _

_hard to see how James is their child. I talked _

_with them about careers in the Ministry the other_

_day. It made me kind of nervous because now_

_I'm not so sure what I want to do anymore. I _

_had been planning on going into Charms _

_specialization, but it just doesn't appeal so much _

_after what they talked about. I'm sure it will _

_all work out in the end, though._

_James, Sirius, Remus, and I decorated the tree _

_today, which turned out to be a disaster! It's _

_an incredibly long story so I'll wait and just tell _

_you after the holidays._

_Godric's Hollow (that's where James lives) is_

_beautiful! It's a mostly Muggle village, but it's _

_actually named after Godric Gryffindor himself. _

_Pretty neat, huh? We went shopping today for _

_Christmas presents and, for a Muggle village, _

_the shops are amazing! It's so much better _

_than London._

_I miss you terribly, Sue. Like Mrs. Potter said, _

_all the testosterone gets a little overwhelming _

_sometimes. I'll be glad to see you again back _

_at Hogwarts._

_I hope that you're holiday has been fantastic _

_so far._

_Tell your parents hello from me._

_Love,_

_Lily E._

After proofing her letter, she sealed it and took it downstairs, along with the presents. She lay the presents under the tree and she sought out the Potter's family owl, which was eating in the kitchen.

Giving the letter to the owl, she said, "Take this to Sue Walker, please," and the owl flew off.

Lily rubbed her eyes and sat down at the table. There were still some biscuits from breakfast that morning so she grabbed one and began snacking. She sat there for a while, enjoying the silence and the contentment she felt. However, it was just not meant to last, especially with three mischievous boys in the house.

It was not long before she heard thuds, yells, and laughter from upstairs. This was followed by a cry for help.

"Lils! Help me! Stop it Prongs (laughter)! Leave me alone – LILS HELP!!!"

Lily stood up and began making her way upstairs to save Sirius from the other boys' torture. She smiled the whole way, happier than she could ever remember being.

* * *

End Chapter IV

Just thought everyone should know that I drank about nine hot fudge milkshakes over the course of writing this chapter. LoL

R&R

Luckyducky


	5. Christmas Surprises

Hello again to everyone!

Thanks again to the reviewers. I love you all!

And just to clear this up – obviously this is a James/Lily fic. However, this fic is also meant to last across their Hogwarts years. That means that James and Lily and the rest of the Marauders are going to go through some hard times before their happy ending. Stick with it though. The ending is going to be fantastic!

Trust me!

At the time I finished this chapter, I had just concluded my first week of college classes. I'm a freshman (it sucks being at the bottom again) and the whole new experience of being away from home has me extremely homesick. Thus, I will most likely have oodles of time to write (after homework, of course) because I will be holed up in my dorm room.

Wish me luck in my first semester:)

**Together Forever**

**By**

**Luckyducky**

* * *

**Chapter V**

**Christmas Surprises**

"Wake up, everyone! Wake up!"

Lily moaned and rolled over in her bed.

"Come on now!

She was going to **kill** Sirius…

"No time to waste!"

She pulled the pillow over her head.

"Let's go people!"

It was still too early…

"I said GET UP!!!!!"

Lily's eyes shot open as someone began banging on the doors and walls.

Gradually, Sirius' banging roused James from his bed. Lily heard him come out of his room and shuffle down the hall towards the bathroom the guys shared.

"Wake up Moony!!!!"

"Go away Padfoot…"

"Now's not the time for beauty sleep."

"It is if I damn well want it to be…"

Lily heard a door slam into the wall. This caused Remus to begin yelling at Sirius.

"Get the hell out of his room so I can get dressed!"

"Fine, fine… grouchy butt."

Silence settled in on the second floor of the Potter household after this and Lily became nervous. If Remus was getting dressed and James was in the restroom (she heard the toilet flush)…

Where was Sirius?

Suddenly she heard it: a slight drag of a foot on the carpet outside her door. Her door creaked a little as the doorknob turned and a crack appeared. It widened slowly and then Sirius slowly stuck his head in.

"Lils?" he said quietly.

'_Now he's going to be quiet'_ she thought ironically.

"Yes, Sirius?"

He took a deep breath and bellowed as loud as he could, "IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!!"

So much for quiet…

She sighed, "Yes, I realize that Sirius."

"Then that means that you have to GET UP!!!"

He flung her door wide open and waved his wand at the windows. She closed her eyes quickly as bright sunlight filled her room. Satisfied that he had caused enough damage upstairs, Sirius laughed and ran downstairs to no doubt terrorize Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

Yawning, Lily dragged herself out of bed and to the restroom. When she came out, James and Remus were standing in her doorway.

"Does he do that every Christmas morning?" she asked through another yawn.

"Yes," they replied in unison.

Laughing, they made their way downstairs, everyone still in his or her pajamas. As they rounded the last step, Lily's mouth watered at the tantalizing smells drifting from the kitchen. They passed through the doors to find Mr. Potter and Sirius already sitting at the table while Mrs. Potter put plates on the table.

"Good morning sleepy heads," Mrs. Potter said as she saw the trio.

"Good morning," they all replied.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" Sirius yelled.

"There really is no reason to be that loud in the morning Padfoot. And why are you so… energetic?" Remus asked as he flopped into a seat beside Mr. Potter.

"Because it's Christmas, of course," he stated as if this were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Of course," James said sarcastically, meeting Lily's eyes. "How on earth could we not have realized that?"

Lily stifled her laugh with her hand and offered to help Mrs. Potter with breakfast.

"Well, if you could grab that pan of eggs, I'll get the toast and bacon. James, dear, could you grab some cups and get everyone juice and coffee?"

With everyone's cooperation, it wasn't long before food was on the table and everyone was serving out spoonfuls of eggs, pouring juice, or passing bacon and toast. Once everyone's plates were full, the talking stopped only to be replaced by chewing.

Halfway through the meal, Lily politely asked if there was any ketchup. James quickly jumped up and got it from the refrigerator for her. She then proceeded to douse her scrambled eggs in ketchup.

"That's disgusting."

Lily slowly looked up at Sirius.

"Have you ever tried it?"

"No because it's disgusting."

"Well if you've never tried it, how do you know it's disgusting?" Lily exclaimed.

"Because it looks disgusting."

"Just because it looks nasty, doesn't mean it **is** nasty."

"Yes it does," he replied stubbornly.

Lily sighed, "Sirius, you're hopeless."

Breakfast continued for about another minute without any more words until Sirius, still not ready to let it go, spoke up.

"I can't believe you're eating eggs with ketchup. You're ruining them."

Lily's fork clattered onto her plate as she glared across the table at Sirius.

"Will you stop it? I'm trying to eat and you're being completely annoying," she said angrily.

She picked up her fork again and was about to take another bite when…

"Sick…"

"That's it!" Lily yelled.

Taking Sirius completely off guard, she reached across the table and grabbed onto his pajama shirt. Everyone around the table began to laugh at the display.

"If you don't be quiet and leave me and my eggs alone, I'm going to shove this bite down your throat. **Then** you can tell me that it's disgusting because you'll have at least tried it! Got it?"

"Lils, honestly!" he tried to reason. "Look at it! It looks and smells disgusting! That means it **has** to be disgusting."

With a primal growl of anger, Lily pulled his head forward by his hair, forced open his mouth, and shoved the bite of eggs and ketchup in his mouth.

At first, Sirius grimaced and chewed slowly. Then, his eyes widened and he chewed faster. After swallowing, he exclaimed, "That's really good."

Lily just sighed in exasperation.

* * *

Once all the dishes had been cleared and the leftover bacon put in the fridge, the group made their way into the living area to open gifts. The pile, which had originally started with Lily's gifts, had spread to enormous proportions. Presents were stacked under the tree, on top of each other, and had even spilled out onto the floor around the tree.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter sat down on a small loveseat, Lily sat in the recliner, and Sirius and Remus sat on opposite ends of the couch, saving the seat in the middle for James. But first James had to pass out all the gifts, as was Potter tradition. This year, though, there was a surprise.

"The first present to be passed out this year will be to Dad," James said.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter waited a second, but when James made no motion to hand out a gift they became confused.

"Well, where is it?" Mr. Potter asked.

_Ding Dong_

"Right there!" Sirius answered, jumping up.

The three guys ran to the door leaving Lily to deal with James' confused parents.

"Lily, dear, do you know what's going on?" said Mrs. Potter.

"Yes I do, but I'm afraid I can't tell you. You'll just have to see for yourself." Lily smiled apologetically at them.

After some hushed talking and struggling, Sirius appeared around the corner slightly out of breath.

"Mr. P, Merry Christmas from the four of us."

Slowly and carefully, Remus and James came around the corner carrying a beautifully carved and decorated bookcase. Mr. Potter's mouth gaped at the sight of the piece of furniture he'd been dying to own for the past three years.

"We all pitched in to get it for you, Dad."

Mr. Potter got up and hugged and thanked each one of them individually before returning to his seat. After that, James began handing out all the gifts. When it was over, each one of them had a pile of gifts from friends and family, even Lily. This was actually a big surprise. She had not expected many gifts, but here she was with a small pile in front of her.

They all began opening their gifts at once, thanking each other as they received them.

Lily's first gift was from Remus. It contained two things: a small embellished bookmark and a thick book titled _A Take on Muggles From an Unbiased Wizard's Viewpoint_. She laughed at the title and thanked Remus before turning to her next gift.

This one was from Peter. She tore open the wrapping (it had to have been done by someone else because it was too nicely wrapped for Peter's skills) to find a pair of soft house shoes. They were so soft and pretty that she was surprised Peter picked them out. Setting them on the floor and slipping her feet in them, she reached for her next present.

The next gift was from Sirius and contained a large box of fudge ("Because girls like chocolate"), a miniature golden rose that would never wilt ("Because girls like flowers"), and a pair of black lacy panties that she refused to pull out of the box with James' parents sitting right there ("I just thought those looked nice").

Still flushing slightly from the panties, she reached for the next gift. Lily forgot her embarrassment instantly when she saw that the gift was from Sue and quickly opened it. Carefully, she pulled out a silky garment that turned out to be a robe. Standing up, she slipped it on and felt instant warmth. Picking up the card that had come with it, she read:

_Dear Lily,_

_Glad to hear everything's going ok at the _

_Potters and that you're having fun!_

_My holidays have been a blast. My _

_cousins came down from Iceland so _

_we've been catching up and having fun. _

_Maybe you can meet them sometime. _

_I'm sure you'd love them! Plus, _

_everyone says that Erik is the handsomest _

_one so maybe you two can fall in love, _

_get married, and then we can be related!_

_Just kidding!_

_I hope you enjoy your gift, by the way. _

_I found it in a small wizard clothing _

_shop and absolutely fell in love with it. _

_If I weren't going to get it for you, I _

_probably would have gotten myself one! _

_Haha! _

_The guy there said it was made from the _

_fur of a fire-mongoose and that it will _

_always stay warm. Pretty awesome, yeah?_

_I miss you too and can't wait to see _

_you back at Hogwarts._

_Love, _

_Sue W._

_P.S. You better not forget about the _

_decorating disaster! I can't wait to hear _

_all about it!_

Lily smiled after finishing her letter from Sue. It felt good to hear from her best, and only, girlfriend. She really did miss her a lot. Sitting back down, she reached for her second-to-the-last gift.

This one was from Mr. and Mrs. Potter. She opened the box and pulled out bottle after bottle of shampoo, bath gels, and lotions, each one a different scent. There were enough products to last her a whole year! She thanked them gratefully as she put them all back in the box.

Her last gift was from James and was the biggest of the lot. When it sat on her lap she couldn't see anything around it. She unwrapped the box, opened it, and found… another box. She looked at James who smiled innocently back at her and told her to open it. So she did only to find… another box. And inside that box was a box, which contained another box, which opened to another box. After Lily had gone through fourteen boxes, she pulled out a small velvet container.

She held her breath as she slowly opened the lid and let it out in a great rush at what was inside. It was a bracelet, but not just any bracelet. No, this piece of jewelry must have cost James a fortune! It was gold with tiny rubies and emeralds placed in it.

"James!" she said, shocked. "You shouldn't have spent this much money!"

"It wasn't that much, Lils. Plus, it just made me think of you when I saw it. I figured you'd like it…" he smiled modestly. "There's one more thing in there underneath it."

Lily lifted the small velvet box and discovered a picture. She picked it up to look at it closer and felt like crying.

The picture had been taken a couple days before Hogwarts had let out for vacation. It showed from left to right Remus, James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter standing in front of the Gryffindor common room fireplace with their arms around each other's shoulders. Remus was waving with his free hand; James and Sirius were smiling winningly, their arms flung around Lily's shoulders; and Peter was blushing and smiling bashfully. Lily watched herself in amazement. It was her own self in the picture that made her want to cry. Her picture self would look back and forth from Sirius to James with a nervous look on her face, like she felt she didn't belong. Then, James would lean over and whisper something in her ear. Lily could not remember what he'd said, but her picture self relaxed after hearing it and began smiling out of the picture.

"Do you like it?" James asked. He'd come across the room to sit closer to her chair and hear her reaction.

"James," she said with tears in her eyes, "this is wonderful. You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you!"

"It's no problem, Lils. And thanks for the broom kit! It's so awesome! I can't wait to put it to use!"

Mr. and Mrs. Potter were walking around the room picking up the torn wrapping paper and the teenagers were showing each other their gifts when an owl flew into the room.

Mr. Potter looked up, "I wonder whom that's from. I don't recognize the owl."

Everyone watched the bird circle above their heads for a minute before it swooped down and dropped a small package into Lily's lap. Then, the owl promptly flew back out of the house.

Everyone's eyes were on Lily as she held up the gift. There was no clue as to who had sent it on the outside. The only thing written on it was _**Lily Evans**_, written in an untidy scrawl. She opened the gift to find another velvet box like the one James had given her.

She looked up at everyone to find that they were all watching her. Slowly, she lifted the lid. Inside it was a necklace made of silver. The pendant was small and had an elaborate "L" on it.

"Who's it from?" asked Remus curiously.

"I have no idea. There's no name or anything…"

All of a sudden Sirius whistled loudly.

"Lily's got herself a secret admirer. I bet that'll be good talk when we get back to Hogwarts," he said.

Lily looked back down at the necklace. It really was pretty and it certainly didn't look cheap. She tried to think about whom it might be from, but no one came to mind. She didn't really know any guys at Hogwarts other than the Marauders.

Later, once all the mess had been cleaned up, Lily sat in her room staring at the necklace wondering whether or not to wear it. Making up her mind, she took it out of the box and clasped it around her neck, slipping it beneath her shirt.

* * *

The rest of Christmas Day passed quickly. For most of the day Lily helped Mrs. Potter cook Christmas dinner. While Mrs. Potter was used to cooking with the aid of magic, Lily taught her a couple of Muggle tricks that made the food even better.

For example, mashed potatoes were better when hand beaten than made with magic. The little lumps that were always left at the end were amazing. Making them with magic, though, knocked out those tasty little bits.

As the day began to wind down, everyone began to get ready for dinner. The smells had been tempting everyone all day, especially Sirius. Lily had yelled at him numerous times to leave them alone and to quit snitching bits of food. However, he hadn't been run off for good until Mrs. Potter had hit him across the knuckles with a rolling pin.

At the dinner table that evening Sirius was still massaging his injured hand.

After everyone had stuffed his or herself nearly three times too much, the group retired to the living area. Mr. Potter shut the overhead lights off before sitting down. This left the house lit by only the strings of lights that hung on the tree. The lights, bright by themselves, reflected off the glittered ornaments and created a warm atmosphere in the spacious living room.

Lily, who was seated on the love seat with Remus, sighed. Two months ago she had not expected to ever feel this happy again. It had seemed that her life was in ruins and that she'd never pull herself out of her grief. She was amazed at the power of true friendship.

Sure, she'd had friends at Beauxbatons, but none like the friends she had made here at Hogwarts. It was nice to know that there were five people who would always be willing to listen and help her if she needed it. Four of them had already proved that when it came to dealing with the Slytherins.

Lily sighed again and leaned into Remus, laying her head on his shoulder. Without thinking, Remus moved his arm out of Lily's way and draped it across the back of the couch. Lily snuggled deeper into Remus' side. Absentmindedly, he began to stroke her hair.

The silence in the room was heavy, but not uncomfortable. It was simply the silence of a group of people that felt completely at ease. Everyone sat there in the living area in silence for at least half an hour staring at either the tree or the fire.

As Remus continued to play with her hair, Lily felt herself beginning to relax more and more. When she had to fight to keep her eyes open, she knew that she would soon fall asleep if she didn't get up. It just felt so good, though. The comfortable silence, the feeling of companionship, the feeling of Remus playing with her hair.

'_Just a few more minutes,'_ Lily reasoned with herself. She closed her eyes briefly, thinking that she would open them in just a second.

'_Just one… more… second…'_

* * *

_Lily ran wildly through the yard with no real destination. The only thing she could think about was getting as far away from her house as possible. It had been raining hard earlier so there were big puddles scattered everywhere. It was impossible to avoid them, and completely unnecessary after what she had just experienced, so she charged right through them. She ignored the fact that everything below her knees was completely soaked._

_At the far end of the yard, she took a sharp right and sprinted beside the tall wooden privacy fence that enclosed the neighbors' yard. Ahead, she could see the Muggle playground. During the day it was full of young children playing on the swings and jungle gym. _

_However, it was now the dead of night and no children were there._

_Scrambling up the small steps and over the swinging bridge, Lily flung herself into one of the long tubes children climb through. She crawled forward until she was in the middle of the tube. There, she noticed that there were three small holes. Closing one eye, she peered out of one of the holes and saw her house._

Then, her dream twisted around. The colors blended into one another and then separated again, this time forming a different setting and situation.

_Lily was running again. She had to get farther away. That playground area was too close and they would find her there._

_She stolidly ignored the pain that had started to form in her side from all her running. _

_As she passed house after house, she heard something. She paused for a minute to listen. After all, if someone was close by, she didn't want to run right into his or her deadly arms._

_It started out softly and Lily had to strain to hear it. As it continued, it became louder and Lily realized what it was._

_A laugh._

_It became so frenzied that it sounded almost insane. It was incredibly high-pitched, like nails on a chalkboard. _

_Slowly, a howl drifted through the night area to mingle with the laughter. This was no just any howl, though. No common dog's howl at the moon could send goosebumps trailing down her arms, legs, and back. No, it was a werewolf's howl._

_Lily began running again._

Her dream casually melted into another.

_Lily, who was normally terrified of insects, ignored the cockroach that landed on her shoulder. If she made any sort of noise, she was dead. She mentally willed her heart to stop beating so loud. She was absolutely positive everyone within a two-mile radius could hear it's loud, frantic rhythm. She huddled behind the row of bushes even more, hoping to become completely invisible._

"_She's around here somewhere."_

_Two sets of footsteps could be heard coming down the sidewalk._

"_What if we don't find her?"_

"_We will. She's just a girl."_

"_I just don't see why this is all so important…"_

"_You heard our Lord: there can be no survivors, especially her."_

Once again, the colors of Lily's dream began to run into one another and then separate again into another image.

_Everything was so dark; she couldn't see anything. Lily was nearly hysterical in panic. _

_Then, out of the darkness came a tiny sound. Lily's breath hitched at the familiar tune. It was her mother's music box._

_The tune began with a simple arrangement of repeated notes and gradually became more and more complex. The music ran the entire length of the song before coming to a close._

_Her mother had once told her that the tune itself was supposed to calm any person that heard, and Lily finally believed her. Here she was, hidden in this dark alleyway inside a dumpster praying to whoever was listening that her life would be spared, and she felt calm. Warmth spread through her from her toes on up._

_And as quickly as that warmth had calmed her, she was brought back down to earth and to the gravity of the situation she was in. Tears sprang to her eyes as she heard delicate wood crunch and the tune let out a final, desperate note. _

"_Lily Evans."_

_It was the same cruel voice that she had heard earlier that evening when she'd been found. Her heart began to pound again._

"_You are here somewhere, Lord Voldemort is sure of it. My Death Eaters would search for you until you are found, but dawn approaches and I have other business to attend to. Consider yourself lucky for now, Ms. Evans. People never fully escape my grasp so we will just say goodbye for now."_

_The voice ceased talking, but Lily had an instinctive feeling that whoever had been speaking was still there._

"_After all of this you will, no doubt, be taken to Hogwarts where you will spend the rest of your schooling. We will most likely not meet again until after your schooling is finished. It is only a matter of time before you end up like your family – dead. You cannot be allowed to live."_

_Lily heard the broken music box fall to the sidewalk. The person chuckled darkly and it sent shivers down her spine._

"_You have nothing left, Lily Evans. Nothing."_

* * *

"Lily?"

She struck out violently as she shifted around.

"Lily, please wake up."

Concern? Was that concern she heard in the voice?

"Lily, please!"

Someone gently shook her shoulders.

She opened her eyes slowly and saw concerned brown eyes staring down at her. She moved slightly and realized she was lying on the couch, Remus kneeling beside her on the floor.

"Lily, are you ok? You fell asleep so I decided to stay down here rather than wake you up. Then you started fidgeting and crying. You hit me in the nose on accident when you kicked one time. What were you dreaming about?"

Lily, still a little dazed from just being woken up, rubbed her eyes. She tried to follow all of what Remus was saying, but had a little trouble. He said something about her falling asleep and then starting to cry. Her stomach dropped as she realized she must have been acting out her fear from her nightmare. She knew he had asked her other questions, but there was only one thing that mattered to her at that moment.

"Where is everyone else?"

He blinked at her, confused by her question. He had been expecting an answer.

"They went to bed right after you went to sleep. Why?"

She ignored his question completely.

"I'm ok Remus, I promise. Just a silly bad dream, that's all."

Sue was currently the only person she had willingly told about her past and she planned on keeping it that way, no matter how good of friends she was with the Marauders. Not saying that she wouldn't tell them eventually. She just wasn't ready yet.

Remus opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. She could tell he wanted to ask something more. After a few seconds, he stopped and seemingly gave up.

"What time is it?" she asked.

Looking at his watch, he replied, "Three in the morning."

"Goodness! We should probably go up to our rooms and try and get a little more sleep. I'm sorry for keeping you up all night and for kicking you in the nose."

"It's quite alright, Lily." He looked at her with concern again. "Are you going to be ok?"

She smiled reassuringly, "Yeah. I'll be fine."

He walked with her up the stairs but stopped at her door.

"If you ever need to talk about anything, you know I'm here to listen."

"I know, Remus."

With that, she hugged him tightly and entered her room. Once inside, her façade dropped and she fell to her knees.

How could she have let this happen? She had tried so hard to keep her past a secret, but here it was on the verge of coming out. Well, not necessarily coming up, per say. The guys wouldn't know of what had happened to her if she didn't tell them. However, they would know that she was keeping something from them. After all, how often did people react to nightmares as she had tonight?

No, the guys were smart and they would know something was wrong. Her only hope was that Remus would keep what had happened tonight to himself.

Feeling despair at her misfortune, she buried her face in her hands and cried.

Silent, painful sobs that wracked at her body until she lay on the floor in a ball.

* * *

Two days after Christmas Day, everything was still normal. Peter had arrived the day before. James was obsessed with cleaning his broom with the new kit Lily had given him. Sirius was… well, Sirius. He disappeared at random times to have secret rendezvous with girls around the neighborhood. Nobody mentioned anything about Lily's nightmare.

Thankfully, it appeared Remus had decided to keep that night a secret.

"… The bottom line is that my parents are absolutely horrible and I hope I never have to go back," concluded Peter.

Peter had spent that morning explaining the horror of staying with his parents for longer than two hours at a time. His father, who was unemployed, was becoming crazy in his old age. He frequently spent they day sitting about yelling at people to get him something to drink, eat, etc. Since Peter was home this Christmas, it was his job to cater to his father. His mother was almost never home. Distraught at growing older, she had performed every spell upon herself she could to remain looking young. However, one can only do so much, and she knew this. So, in a desperate attempt to keep feeling youthful, she had taken a job at a local bar where she was basically a hooker.

That left Peter to deal with his lunatic father and his younger brother and sister.

By mid-afternoon, the five teenagers were growing restless. They'd been inside most of the day playing various wizarding games and were now ready to get up and do something.

Sirius suggested their traditional snowball fight. While they usually played the game in partners, this year there was an odd number. Remus suggested, as he had in earlier December when snowball fights came up, that they make it a free for all. So, armed with wands and layers of warm clothes, they group headed outside.

The Potter's backyard was rather big so there was no need to be right next to the "enemy," as Sirius was now calling everyone else. Everyone spent a couple of minutes bewitching the snow into individual-sized forts. Lily, who was gifted at charms, finished first and went inside to begin creating her ammunition. Soon, mounds of snowballs lay around her fort. Satisfied, she peeked through her firing window.

The four boys had finished their forts and everyone was waiting for the first snowball to be fired. They waited and waited, each one watching everyone else carefully. Then suddenly it happened! A snowball had been fired! None of them ever really figured out who had started the fight, but it didn't really matter.

Snowballs pelted through the air.

This lasted for some time with no damage really done. With five people playing, there was plenty of time to repair damages to a fort. It was a five-way stalemate. To solve this, Lily turned her attention on Sirius. With a flick of her wand, her entire stash of snowballs zoomed across the yard towards Sirius' fort.

At first, the only thing she could see were puffs of powdery snow. She knew she was successful, though, when she heard Sirius' yells of it being unfair. Grinning, she re-created her snowball horde before she became too vulnerable.

Some time passed again, in which Remus and James took out Peter. He slunk off to the side of the battlefield, his fort lying in ruins. All of a sudden, Lily was being fiercely attacked. She stumbled as her fort was hit strongly from James' direction. After the attack was over, Lily got up and assessed the damage.

There was a big gaping hole on top and various little holes in front. Scowling, she glared out her window towards James' fort. However, her scowl quickly turned to one of outrage, as she saw not just James, but also Sirius and Peter.

"Traitors!" she yelled across the yard at Sirius. "This was supposed to be a free for all!"

"All's fair in love, war, and snowball fights, Lils!" Sirius yelled back.

Angry, she began sending snowballs their way. Her anger doubled when she saw Remus running across the clearing towards James' fort. Realizing that they were all going to team up against her, she began sending snowballs toward Remus.

"Hurry Moony!"

"Run faster!"

The three boys that were safe in the fort urged Remus along, but to no avail. Ten feet from James' fort, one of Lily's snowballs hit home and knocked him to the ground. Triumphantly, Lily thrust her fist into the air. He lay there for a while without moving before he began crawling.

However, by this time she could do nothing about Remus. She was now doing everything in her power to keep her fort from falling down around her. It was easy enough to repair damage from one person's set of snowballs, but not when three people were attacking her.

The three boys had turned to attacking her to try and distract her from Remus. They sent every snowball they had at her, keeping her well occupied. Despite her determination and seriousness at the moment, she could not help laughing out loud when one of Peter's snowballs missed her fort by a mile and, instead, hit James' neighbor.

She gave up on returning fire when Remus entered the fray again.

Ending it quickly, the four boys sent a barrage of snowballs that completely shattered Lily's small fort. Snow tumbled around her head and she slipped and fell in the middle of it all. At her defeat, the boys made their way across the lawn laughing.

"That was totally unfair! You said it would be a free for all."

"Oh well!" James said, still laughing.

"You had to admit it was fun," added Peter.

Slowly, she let a smile spread across her face. "Yeah, I guess it was. Even if you four cheated."

Soaked, tired, and happy, the five of them made their way back inside.

Later when Mr. Potter would get home, he would exclaim that their backyard looked horrible. There were three big piles of snow that were the last of Sirius', Lily's, and Peter's forts; one smaller fort that was Remus' abandoned post; and James' fort that was the largest of them all.

* * *

"Ahhh…." Lily sighed out loud.

After the snowball fight had ended, Lily had realized exactly how cold she'd been. The excitement had distracted her fairly well. Now, she was enjoying what was probably one of the longest showers of her entire life. Feeling slowly returned to her toes and fingers as she relaxed.

Stepping out of the shower, Lily wrapped a towel around her body to keep warm and began rubbing cleanser on her face. Once finished, she clasped her secret admirer's necklace back on and walked into her room to get dressed for dinner. It was mid-afternoon so she still had to look halfway presentable. She didn't think it would look very nice if she went down to a nice supper in lounge pants and a shabby t-shirt.

She searched through her dresser drawers before pulling out some jeans, a cream sweater, a black bra, and a pair of black panties (not the ones that Sirius had given her). Letting the towel drop to the floor, she pulled on her panties and bra.

"Lily! Lily, come look at what Sirius and I caught! It's so freaking…"

James had begun speaking right outside her door, completely unaware that Lily was currently changing. Speech failed him, though, when he opened the door to find Lily standing there in nothing but her bra and panties.

Lily's heart was pounding but she couldn't seem to do anything. She was rooted to the ground by shock, while James stood in the doorway and stared for what seemed like an eternity.

In reality, it was only a couple of seconds because as soon as it sunk into James' head that he was staring at his almost naked friend, he yelped and shut the door.

Lily, now completely embarrassed, sunk to the floor wondering how on earth she was going to be able to face him downstairs later, or ever!

Outside, James' face was a brilliant red as he entered his room and shut the door. Usually he would have knocked but it was mid-afternoon and people normally didn't take showers in the middle of the day. So, of course, he had barged right in expecting to see her reading or folding laundry. Anything but standing there almost naked! However, his surprise as he discovered what she had been doing hadn't stopped him from noticing everything.

She had really long legs, something he hadn't noticed when she was just wearing jeans; was pretty thin, but not too thin that it was nasty; her hair was wet and kind of plastered to her face; her eyes had had that deer-in-the-headlights look to them; she had been leaning over the bed reaching for the rest of her clothes; and she had been wearing a BLACK bra and panties.

That last bit was what had sent his mind reeling. Black was such a… well, sexy color for bras and panties. It was odd seeing Lily (their Lily!) wearing something so tempting.

He breathed deeply to keep his blood from rushing any faster than it already was. He absolutely must not think about what had happened. It was an accident and they would just forget about it.

After all, there was no way they would ever work as a couple.

'_Ha!' _he thought. Him and Lily together – what a riot!

But as he exited his room and went downstairs to help with supper, a strange feeling settled in his stomach and he couldn't quite stop thinking about her.

Not about her body or her undergarments or of his natural boy-ish hormones taking control of his body parts, but of her eyes and the way she had looked at him. There was the deer-in-the-headlights look to them, but also something else, something he couldn't quite explain. It was there though, behind the panic.

Something else.

Perhaps he saw a slight glimpse of…

No, it couldn't be.

* * *

End Chapter V

Anyone wish to take a guess at the identity of Lily's secret admirer?

R&R

Luckyducky


	6. New Years Eve

Hello again, faithful readers!

Your reviews truly make me smile. I love them so much! After reading them, I have to sit down and write because they make me so happy!

It was interesting hearing some of your speculations on whom Lily's admirer is. It won't be too much longer before the cat will be out of the bag.

This chapter is about three or four pages longer than any other ones I've written. I just couldn't stop writing; I was having so much fun. LoL

Hope you all enjoy!

**Together Forever**

**By**

**Luckyducky**

* * *

**Chapter VI**

**New Years Eve**

Lily sat in her room deep in thought.

Tomorrow was New Years Eve and she had a party to go to. Not a wild, crazy, let's-get-drunk-and-do-it kind of party, but a sophisticated get together of adults. That's right, tomorrow on New Years Eve, the Potters were going to be hosting a mini get-together. Attendees were to include some Aurors, some heads of department, and some of the Potter's longtime friends.

To Lily this only meant one thing: getting a head start on her future.

Since her conversation with Mr. Potter, she had been looking forward to this night. She would be able to talk to various ministry officials and hopefully get some ideas on what a good future career would be for her. She had pored over the list of people coming and had planned out questions for each person she was planning on talking to.

This was why Lily sat in her room deep in thought. She was making sure she had everything ready. That way she wouldn't make a fool of herself tomorrow in front of someone who might possibly be her future boss. She was going over everything tonight because she would have no down time tomorrow.

Starting at approximately 6:30 in the morning, the Potters, Peter, Remus, Sirius, and herself would be cleaning, cooking, and decorating the house. Seeing how the Potter's house was fairly large, this would most definitely be a full-day event. According to Mrs. Potter, they would all finish up at about 5:00 in the afternoon. This would give them enough time to clean themselves up and get dressed before guests started to arrive at 8:00. From then on, it was downhill.

There was going to be a band set up in the dining room, which would be void of all furniture so that it became a makeshift dance floor. Food was going to be set up primarily in the kitchen but also stationed at various points throughout the house. Drinks would be going around with waiters the Potters had hired for the night. And the grand finale, which was the countdown, was set to take place in the Potter's living room where they were going to hang a great magical clock.

It was going to be a h-e-c-t-i-c day.

Lily blinked and came back to reality when she heard Sirius call upstairs that dinner was ready. Standing up, she yawned and stretched before making her way downstairs.

"Lily dear, before you sit down would you mind getting everyone something to drink," said Mrs. Potter. "I would have done it already, but my hands are full and the boys are being ridiculously unhelpful."

"It's no problem Mrs. Potter," Lily replied.

Dodging Mrs. Potter and the two pans she was carrying, Lily opened the cabinets and got down seven glasses. She filled them with ice and set them on the table just as the "men" of the household came in.

"Broomsticks just aren't meant to make those kinds of turns," James said heatedly as he sat down across from Sirius.

"Are you crazy?" Sirius practically yelled back. "What's so great about this new line if they can't even make those kinds of sharp turns without throwing you off?"

"Hello Lily," Remus said politely over Sirius' and James' argument as he sat down beside her at the table. "I haven't seen you much today."

"I know. I've been upstairs getting ready for tomorrow evening." She proceeded to tell him of her plans and even sought his opinion on some of the questions she had planned. She was smugly satisfied when all of his responses were positive.

"In my opinion, you've got some great questions here. You're bound to find out something that'll peak your interest. Plus, this is a great way to get to know some of your future colleagues." Remus paused for a moment in thought. "Sounds like something I ought to be doing."

They laughed before piling their plates high with food and tucking in.

While Lily ate, she was grateful for the normalcy of everything. A few days ago, James had walked in on her when she was only half-dressed. While this had caused her much grief and embarrassment, the event had thankfully blown over. There had been some tension for a while, but overall things were back to normal.

The group had, in fact, gone shopping just yesterday without anything happening. No mention of what had occurred had gotten out and James and Lily were able to act completely ordinary. Lily had originally feared that James might speak of it to the other guys and knew this would be a disaster. However, they had not said anything and were not acting any differently.

This meant that the secret was still safe because if Sirius had known, the whole world would have known.

Lily couldn't help but smile to herself at her luck. She would have never been able to face Hogwarts again if this had all gotten out. Someone up there was still watching out for her!

After all the stomachs were full and all the dishes had been cleaned and put away, it was off to bed.

"We've all got an awful long day ahead of us tomorrow so we should all be fully rested," said Mrs. Potter.

Dutifully, the group marched their way upstairs calling goodbyes the whole way. On the second story landing, James and Lily stopped at the first set of doors, Remus and Sirius made their way to the second set, and Peter went to the last room. Once they had all reached their doors, they all called out goodnight to each other before heading into their rooms. The only one who differed was Sirius who insisted on running back down the hallway and hugging James before sprinting back and slamming his door.

"What was all that about?" Lily laughed.

James just smiled timidly at her and replied, "No clue. He's been acting sort of off lately."

"Oh."

They stood there for a while in an awkward silence. Around others, they were able to forget what had happened and act normal around each other. However, this was the first time they had been alone together since before he had walked in on her. James stood there staring intently at a spot on the carpet right in front of her feet while Lily stared outright at James.

After what seemed like forever, James spoke.

"Lily, I know that stuff has been kind of weird betw…"

"Don't," Lily replied firmly, cutting him off. James stopped speaking immediately and stared at her in a hurt-confused sort of way. "I think it's best if we just ignore it and pretend like nothing ever happened."

And with that, Lily turned on her heel, entered her room, told James goodnight, and closed the door. Once inside, she became suddenly aware of how hot her face felt. Surely she was blushing.

'_Perfect,'_ she thought to herself. Why, oh why did she have to be one of those people whose face becomes an obvious, blaring signal in embarrassing situations?

Sighing out loud in frustration at the situation, she changed clothes (in the bathroom with the door closed) and crawled into bed.

Surprisingly, she was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Someone was yelling loud enough to bring down the house.

'_It must be Sirius.'_

As she had done on Christmas morning, she pulled the pillow over her head and made a valiant attempt at going back to sleep. She relaxed even more after she heard Sirius' pounding footsteps go downstairs. Unfortunately, the option of her going back to sleep just wasn't meant to be. Through her daze of sleepiness, she heard a small knock on her door.

Instantly her heart leapt into her throat at the memory of James walking in on her even though she was fully dressed and under the covers this time. Thankfully, the head that peeked around the corner of her door was not James, but Mrs. Potter.

"Lily, time to wake up if you wish to help. Take however much time you need to get dressed and everything, but whenever you're through we'll need you downstairs."

"A-a-alright Jocelyn," Lily managed around a yawn.

Smiling, Mrs. Potter closed Lily's door and walked down the hall to one of the boys' rooms to wake them up. Lily, meanwhile, managed to crawl out of bed, almost falling down in the process. It was **way** too early. People shouldn't be allowed to wake up and function at this ungodly hour.

Shuffling into the bathroom, she began the process of becoming decent enough to be seen around the house. She brushed her teeth, put on some basic makeup (she'd save the big stuff for later), got dressed, and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Taking a step back, she took a good look at herself.

A girl that was medium height, with a slim body, red hair, green eyes, pale skin, and knobby elbows and knees stared back at her.

She had never thought she'd been attractive, at least not in that stop-a-guy-in-his-tracks kind of way. At the very least, she figured she was decent. She'd had a few boyfriends, but none of them had ever made her feel extremely special or outrageously gorgeous.

When she was younger she used to obsess that no one would ever want someone like her. She figured that she would always be too different. After all, most of the girls that had attended Beauxbatons had been blonde, blue-eyed and way more girly than she would ever be. As she got older, though, she had come to terms with her uniqueness and had stopped obsessing. If she were meant to be with someone, it would happen; there was nothing more she could do about it. Worrying would do nothing but cause her stress.

Feeling satisfied, she slipped on some shoes, grabbed a sweatshirt, and headed downstairs. As soon as she rounded the corner from the last stair, noise hit her like a wall.

Sirius, Peter, and James were all working at shrinking the furniture in the living room. However, they couldn't do this task without causing some sort of mayhem. Several times they had to yell that nobody move because they had dropped some piece of shrunken furniture and couldn't find it. It was comical to see the three boys on their hands and knees crawling in and out of everyone else's legs trying to find a miniature armchair.

Working around the occasional mayhem were Mr. Potter and Remus. Each were located at either entrance to the living room to direct orders to the waiters, the decorators, and the group bringing in the magical countdown clock. Every time a worker would approach the door they would say aloud what organizations they were with. Then either Mr. Potter or Remus would tell them what they were to do and where they were supposed to do it.

Lily watched as the waiters practiced where they would be stationed to serve people and who belonged in what area. She saw the decorators charming the Potter's carpeted floor into slick, shiny hardwood section by section as Peter, Sirius, and James cleared the furniture. Lastly, she noticed a set of wizards carrying in silver, medium-sized chunks of something. She figured that those chunks would be assembled later into the magical clock.

In a brief interlude, Mr. Potter told Lily that Mrs. Potter would be needing her help in the kitchen fixing food for that night's snacks. Glad to be out of all the bustle and noise, Lily quickly went to work under Mrs. Potter's instructions.

Most of the time Mrs. Potter would tell Lily a set of instructions and that would be that. Lily would grab whatever utensils and food needed to cook it. Occasionally, though, Lily would throw in a bit of her own ideas, with Mrs. Potter's approval of course. A certain spice that the recipe didn't call for, a little bit more vanilla in the batter, a crumbled brown sugar topping on a cake.

This was Lily's first half of the day.

Around noon everyone gathered together for a brief lunch, workers included. There was food enough for everyone because while Lily had been helping with that night's hors d'oeuvres and snacks, Mrs. Potter had taken some time to cook a decent lunch. Everyone present wolfed down their food and relaxed for about fifteen minutes.

Lily thought their resting for a minute was slightly hypocritical because all they did was discuss what was next on the agenda. When she felt like relaxing from a job, she didn't want to think about it, much less talk about it constantly. It didn't really affect her though. Her job was in the kitchen and she highly preferred it that way. She'd probably just get in the way if she were out there anyway.

The second half of the day continued much like the first half. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, Mrs. Potter and Lily called it quits; they had finished an hour and a half before planned. Platters and platters of food were on every available counter space in the kitchen. The refrigerator's interior size had also been magically expanded to be able to hold all the food that needed to stay chilled until that evening and the wide range of drinks.

"Well Lily," Mrs. Potter said as she wiped her hands on a towel, "I must say that this was a job well done today."

Sighing, Lily leaned against the counter, "I must agree."

"I would tell you to go in the living room and relax for a while, but you would just end up sitting on a hardwood dance floor. I daresay the decorators are finished by now. The last crash I heard was about one hour ago."

Lily laughed, "I'll just go upstairs then. I'll rest for a while, take a quick shower, and then start getting ready."

"Alright then dear. I hung your dress in the back of your closet. That dirt smudge came right out just fine. No problems at all."

"Thanks, Jocelyn," Lily said as she headed out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. "I'll be back down later."

Mrs. Potter just waved her out, smiling. As Lily exited the kitchen, she paused in shock at the Potter's new and improved living room.

Gone were the carpet, the comfortable furniture, the bookcases, and the Christmas decorations. Instead, the living room had been transformed into a dance hall. The Potter's now had a hardwood dancing floor, tables and chairs lining the walls, and a silver magical clock hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. It was already counting down to midnight.

Various groups were still bustling about the room finishing last minute details. James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Mr. Potter stood in the middle of it all giving directions. Lily waved when they glanced her way and gave them thumbs up.

It looks fantastic, she mouthed across the room.

The group smiled in return, proud of their accomplishments for the day. Lily waved once again before heading upstairs. Once in her room, she pulled off her sweatshirt, kicked off her shoes, pulled her ponytail holder out, and flopped down on the bed. She glanced at the clock; it read 3:42 p.m.

'_I have just enough time to take a quick nap.'_

Lily set the alarm on the clock and closed her eyes.

* * *

At 5:00 Lily's alarm went off. Groggily, she turned it off and sat up. It was time to get ready.

By 5:30 she was out of the shower and had everything ready to go: dress, jewelry, shoes, makeup, and other various accessories. She slipped on her new dress and surveyed herself in the mirror.

She had bought the dress when the group had gone shopping a few days earlier. They had been walking along when she saw it hanging in the window of a witch's dress shop. She had instantly fallen in love with it and had completely ignored the price tag when she bought it. It was a fairly simple dress, but to her it was perfect.

It was an emerald green that perfectly matched the shade of her eyes. Made of silk, it had an empire waist and a plunging, crossover v-neckline. It was sleeveless and the straps were about one-inch wide. The dress skimmed her curves, hitting her waist and flowing downward to her knees.

Going into the bathroom, she began working on her hair. Charming it into soft waves, she pulled half of it up and fastened it with a gold clip. She then brushed a dark silver eye shadow on her eyelids, put on some mascara, skimmed some blush on her cheeks for color, and put on a soft red lip-gloss.

As far as jewelry went, Lily firmly believed that less was more. With that idea in mind, she decided that she would only wear a necklace and earrings. She charmed her admirer's silver necklace gold to match and clasped it around her neck before reaching for a simple pair of gold hoop earrings.

To finish off her outfit, she had picked a pair of green high-heels. To keep from clunking around all night, the pair she had bought had an ankle strap that would hold it to her foot.

At last she was finished. She looked in the floor length mirror from every angle possible to make sure she looked as good as she could. So when she could find nothing wrong, other than the obvious girl-type-comments – "Is my butt too big?" –, she opened the door and made her way downstairs. It was now about 7:00 (she had taken an obscene amount of time to get ready due to nervousness) and she knew the Potters would need help on some last minute details.

Right before opening the kitchen door, however, she paused as butterflies swooped around in her stomach. But what was she nervous about? She knew every question she wished to ask ministry officials tonight by heart. She could practically say them in her sleep. She had practiced walking in her heels so she was confident that she wouldn't fall down.

So what was it?

It was just New Years Eve. She would probably have to dance with some people (Sirius would most likely embarrass her on purpose) but she was a decent dancer so that didn't bother her. Then there was the countdown at midnight. After that the whole shindig was over.

Her stomach lurched again.

The countdown! It had completely slipped her mind that at the end of the countdown everyone usually kissed someone else. She for sure didn't want to kiss any of her friends. What would she do then?

She never got to plan out what she would do though because at that exact moment a slow whistle came from behind her. Her face burning up, she whirled around to see whom it had been. She blushed even more when she turned around and came face to face with Sirius Black.

"You look completely amazing tonight, Lils. Too bad we're such good friends or I'd totally shag you tonight," he said with a charming grin.

"Well then it definitely is a good thing we're friends because I think I'd die if I ever saw you naked."

"I understand, Lils. If you saw me naked you'd die from shock. I've been told I'm too much to take in at times."

"Oh you're full of it," she laughed back. "Do I really look okay, though?" She couldn't help but want someone else's opinion.

"I told you already – you look amazing."

She smiled gratefully, relieved, and opened the door to the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks at the bustle of activity that met her. What must have been one hundred people were shoving around making sure they knew where everything was and that they had all of their platters and food and whatnot. On top of all of that, Lily could hear Mr. Potter calling out instructions. Through a small gap in a group of waiters, Lily caught a glimpse of Mrs. Potter putting the icing on a multi-level cake.

"Come on, we need to find James," Sirius yelled in her ear. The yelling didn't even affect her though because if he hadn't yelled, he wouldn't have been heard. That's how loud it was.

So with Sirius' hand in the small of her back guiding her through the activity, they made their way through the kitchen to the living room. Immediately the sound died down.

"Hey guys, over here!" James yelled.

On the other side of the dance floor James, Remus, and Peter were seated at a small table. They had a platter of many different kinds of food in front of them, half of which were already gone. Lily recognized every food that was on the plate, having made the majority of them.

"We saved you some," said Remus around a mouthful of food.

"Thanks, Moony!" Sirius said quickly before sitting down and shoving various appetizers in his mouth.

Lily sat down on the other side of Sirius, pointedly ignoring James who was staring at her.

"You look nice, Lily," said Peter.

"Yeah," added Remus, "this is the first time we've really seen you dressed up."

"Thanks guys. It feels weird though. I don't really know if I like dressing up."

James still sat silently staring at her. There was a small awkward silence before Lily reached for an appetizer and asked how many people they were expecting tonight. She was shocked when Sirius said somewhere around five hundred people.

"I thought Mr. Potter said only a small group of their close friends!"

"Well," James expanded, finally speaking, "that was the original plan, but they decided to expand it at the last minute. Dad says that to have all of those people together at one time will be good for the Ministry. So many people their share animosity that he hopes this will bring some of them closer."

Sirius snorted, "Like that will ever happen. The day the Malfoys and Blacks are close to the Potters and Weasleys is the day that we will have world peace."

Just then, the commotion that had been going on the kitchen spilled out into the dance area. Waiters ran to corners of the room, desperately holding on to their platters full of food and wine glasses; workers ran after them with bottles of various types of wine; the musicians got into place; and lastly the Potters walked out and made their way to the front door. Just as they got there, the doorbell rang. They looked back into the room to make sure everything was in order, the band started playing, and then they opened the door.

Lily's mouth dropped open at the vast amount of people outside. She had been expecting maybe ten or so people to get there at once, not hundreds. The Potters smiled and stepped back to allow their co-workers to come in. Each person was greeted individually before they came inside where they gathered in small groups. The waiters moved around from group to group offering snacks and drinks.

Lily, Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter sat at their table for about thirty minutes enjoying their food before Mrs. Potter rushed over and insisted that James make some sort of appearance. The Potters were so well known that James would need to make some sort of good impression, not just sit at a table all night.

The group still sitting at the table smiled sympathetically at James as he walked away with a grimace on his face. He was good at public appearances and at talking with others since he had been doing it all his life. However, that did not mean that he had to enjoy it.

Shortly after James' departure, Sirius spotted a couple of witches sitting at a table across the dance floor. They looked pretty young so they were either children of Ministry officials who were invited, or new rookies in the Ministry.

"Lils, how do I look?" he asked her, primping his hair. She couldn't help but smile back; he was so predictable.

"You look fine, Sirius."

"My smile's okay?"

"As good as it always is."

"Is it charming enough?"

"They'll be falling over themselves for you."

"Are you positive? You swear?

"I promise, Sirius."

"You wouldn't lie to me would you?"

"I wouldn't lie."

"So there's nothing in my teeth?"

"There's nothing in your teeth," she said firmly. All of his questions were becoming frustrating.

"Lils, you didn't even look!"

"Sirius, for goodness sake just go over there and talk to them!" she shouted at him.

He looked at her for a second in shock before grumbling, "Fine..." and walking off. She watched him carefully as he slumped away from them, acting like he was pouting. But sure enough, as he got closer to the girls' table, he perked up.

"Typical…" she said to herself.

The group sat there in silence for about ten minutes watching the hoards of people out on the dance floor when Remus asked Lily to dance. She smiled and accepted and they stood up and made their way into the mass.

When they reached a spot close to the middle of the floor, Remus grabbed her hand and placed his other one on her waist while she placed her other hand on his shoulder. He pulled her a little bit closer because of the lack of space, but she didn't feel any awkwardness. Their relationship was strictly platonic.

With a slight smile and nod at her, which she returned, they began to dance. It was a quick paced song and Lily and Remus enjoyed it immensely. All in all it went rather smoothly. They only bumped into one couple, but they didn't even notice. They were staring into each other's eyes like there was no one else on the floor around them.

When the song ended, the band started a slower one. Many couples walked off the dance floor, creating much more room. When she looked back at Remus, he was staring at her.

"It's up to you if you want to dance another one," he said.

She thought for a minute before replying, "Why not?"

With that, they began dancing again, albeit this time much slower.

"So are you enjoying yourself?" he asked her politely.

"Very much. I've never been to anything like this so this whole experience is really amazing. I'm so glad I got to come."

"Well of course," he replied matter-of-factly. "Why wouldn't you get to come? You're such good friends with us that there was no way that James wouldn't have invited you over the holidays."

She nodded, "I know. I just feel really special to be able to come to something this fancy. It'll probably be the last time that ever happens to me."

"I highly doubt that, Lily. If you're going into the Ministry then you'll be attending gatherings like this all the time all over the world. James' parents are always out attending fancy get-togethers."

"I had no idea they had to do that," she said.

"Yeah. James doesn't like it though. When they're gone all the time, there are a lot of things they miss. It's a lot of time away from James. that's the one major drawback to being in the Ministry."

"That's sad for James," Lily said sympathetically.

"Yeah, but he's gotten used to it over the years. It doesn't bother him like it used to."

Lily and Remus' conversation ended abruptly on that note. They continued to dance, but Lily's mind was on a young James growing up while his parents were never there. The thought put a heavy weight on her heart and she realized that this was the first time she had ever really felt sorry for James.

After a couple more dances with Remus, Lily excused herself. She needed to take advantage of tonight and really talk to some people. Spotting Mrs. Potter, she made her way over to her and asked if she could tail along and perhaps Mrs. Potter might introduce her.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry but I'm just getting ready to go whip up some more snacks. Why don't you go find James? He's around here somewhere. He knows mostly everyone here and I'm sure he'd be glad to introduce you."

This wasn't what she really wanted, but she smiled and nodded anyway. She had really wanted to be introduced by a Ministry official since she wanted to make such a good impression. And to be introduced by Mrs. Potter would definitely be good. However, it just wasn't her luck. So, somewhat grudgingly, she found James and told him of her situation which he gladly agreed to do.

From then on, Lily's night went very quick. She met mostly everyone she had planned on and asked every question she could think of: everything from international linguists to specific charm-work done as a control on wild magical beasts. Between all of her career seeking, James introduced her to some people that he said she would really like.

The first group was…

"Lily, this is Arthur and Molly Weasley and their two sons Bill and Charlie."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Molly Weasley said while shaking her hand. "Oh no! Charlie, get back here!" Charlie, the youngest son, had chosen that exact time to make his escape. As soon as his mother's firm grip on his hand had gone away, he had streaked off into the crowd.

"It was very nice to meet you Lily," Molly said hurriedly before running after her son, dragging Bill along in the process. Her husband, however, stayed to visit.

"Lily," James began, "Arthur is a new assistant in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in the Ministry. I've heard through my parents that in the next couple of years he is likely to become head."

Arthur Weasley laughed, "Not likely, James. Jonathon has a few years left on him before he retires so it'll probably be closer to the next ten years."

"Oh well. The point is you'll get there eventually!"

"So Mr. Weasley," Lily began...

"No formalities, please. Just Arthur."

"Arthur, was it hard to get a position in the Ministry?"

"Are you thinking about a career in the Ministry, Lily?" he asked. He seemed like a very nice man. He was constantly smiling at her.

"Yes, but I'm not quite sure where yet."

"Oh that's not a problem. As you get into your sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts, your heads of house will talk to you more and more about future jobs. But as for your question, it was surprisingly easy. However, not many wizards are keen to take the position I did."

"Why is that?" James asked. Apparently, this was one thing his parents had never told him.

"For one, the job itself isn't very high-paying so that knocks about half of the people out. Two, you have to deal with Muggles a lot so that knocks out the other half. Most wizards in the Ministry want nothing to do with Muggles. We take a lot of rap from other departments, but it's what I like so…" he trailed off.

"Arthur Weasley!" Molly said as she came storming back. "Our son runs away and you don't even try to help! What if I wished to stay and visit with Ms. Lily? Hmm?" she looked at him expectantly.

He looked at her, dumbfounded, "Well you could have just asked and I would have gone after the kids." She huffed loudly, excused herself, and stalked back to the table that Charlie and Bill were sitting at. Arthur watched her walk away before turning back to Lily and James.

"I think that if I stayed here now I'd get in even more trouble than I already am. Lily, it was a pleasure meeting you. Good luck with a Ministry career. I'll keep my eye out for you. James, pleasure as always."

After Lily and James had refilled their drinks and snagged a quick snack, he insisted they meet the next group…

"Lily this is Alastor Moody, head of the Auror department."

"Hello girl," Moody said shaking her hand roughly.

"Hello Mr. Moody."

"Alastor, Lily here is interested in finding out information about different Ministry divisions. She's not quite sure where she wants to go yet. Any tips or information for her?" James asked politely.

Lily couldn't help but be grateful for James' help. Although things were still slightly awkward between them, he was really an asset to her right now. One, he knew these people and their careers. Two, he was comfortable around them. He was able to talk to them like he'd known them all his life, which he probably had, and look completely at home.

"Ah! Interested in the Auror division are you?"

Lily nodded timidly, "Just wondering about what you have to go through and everything and what kind of opportunities are available within the department."

"If you want to know what all potential Aurors have to go through to become certified, you could have just asked James here." Lily turned to James in surprise. "He knows pretty much everything about becoming an Auror; been asking me details and tips for years."

At Lily's stunned look, James shrugged sheepishly.

"I figured you'd like it better hearing it from Alastor Moody," he reasoned. She raised one of her eyebrows in return.

"Since you're here, though, I might as well save James the trouble. If you're planning on going into the Auror department, first thing you need to do is brush up on all your dark arts defense spells. When battling dark wizards, that's your first priority – disarm, do not harm. If possible, we always want the wizard or witch alive and well."

"What if they are attacking, though?" Lily asked.

"Most will. They won't come easily, I can tell you that. It doesn't matter though. That's why Aurors have extensive training in defensive spells; they need to be able to block nearly every spell possible. Now, if you're trapped in a corner and your fighting dark wizards four to one, then you can cast to harm. But only to harm – never kill."

"Well that would seem obvious. After all, the killing curse is forbidden and as Ministry employees I expect you would have to abide," she reasoned.

"Yes it would seem obvious, but it doesn't always work like that. Many Aurors have been in a tight spot, panicked, and ended up killing dark wizards. It's sad because those Aurors ended up in Azkaban themselves. I've lost some of my best Aurors that way."

"So what else would I have to do to become an Auror?"

"Well, if you're really serious about becoming one, you should talk to your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and then come talk to me. If you're accepted into the program, and you notice I said if because not everyone is allowed in, you'll begin your training."

"That's the hardest and the longest part," James added. "I'm going to go get some more punch. I'll be back."

As James walked away, Lily returned her attention to Moody. "So what's so hard about it?"

"It's vigorous and physically stressful. It takes the average witch or wizard four years to complete the program, although some finish early. Most of the time, the trainee undergoes a sort of internship under an Auror that they are compatible with. The trainee will first learn basic modes of operation. This includes the ways Aurors work together in groups to accomplish tasks, all the spells we use on a daily basis, and how to move about when you're out there on an assignment. To be considered accomplished on that takes about two years."

"That's a long time for basics, but I'm sure that's necessary. If a rookie didn't know how all of the other Aurors worked together, it could blow an entire assignment."

"Exactly! After that comes the fieldwork. The trainee will accompany the training Auror on all of his or her assignments. To pass this last portion, the trainee will have to actively participate in battles, be able to lead missions effectively, and keep their cool. The only way a person passes this part is if their Auror believes they're ready, which usually takes around three years."

"That's incredibly amazing, Mr. Moody. But I have one last question: is there any way to have a specialization in charm work as an Auror?"

"Actually, each Auror is gifted in their own way. Some may work by transfiguration, while others work strictly by defensive spells. Still others work by brute strength and ignore magic. If you're looking for a career in the Ministry that involves charm work, then you should definitely consider becoming an Auror. We've had a shortage of Aurors that are skilled in charm work for about six or seven years now."

"Really?" Lily asked, highly intrigued.

"Now, I'm not trying to pressure you or talk you into a career you wouldn't like, but maybe you should consider it."

Lily, extremely satisfied, shook Alastor Moody's hand, "Thank you so much, Mr. Moody. You've been extremely helpful and I'll definitely keep this in mind over the next couple of years."

"It's been a pleasure, Ms. Evans. Good luck to you."

And with that, they parted ways. As Lily walked across the dance floor, her mind was on the information Alastor Moody had presented her. It was very interesting, and seemed a lot like what she was looking for. She had never desired a career where she would sit at a desk; she much favored one with action. And as far as she could tell, being an Auror would be all action. Interesting… very interesting…

Once she got back to her original table where Remus and Peter were still sitting, she flopped down and looked up at the clock. It was now 11:07 and they were on the homestretch. It had been a very long night, despite how the time had flown when she'd been talking to everyone.

"So how did everything go? Did you get to talk to everyone you had planned on?" Remus asked her.

"Surprisingly yes. Everything went great. I feel a little better about my future now that I have some options."

"That's good," he replied. "So, do you feel like dancing again? I've been sitting here for too long now and no girls have come up to me."

She laughed, "So I'm like a last resort?"

She laughed even harder at the look of shock on his face. "Absolutely not, Lily!"

"I was just joking, come on," and she pulled him onto the dance floor.

Similarly to earlier, the band struck up a face-paced song and Lily and Remus were soon skipping around the floor. By the end of the song they were out of breath and welcomed the slower beat of the next song.

This was how the night proceeded until about 11:45. Lily and Remus would dance periodically while Peter would sit at the table; Sirius would follow girls around the room and dance with them; and James would flit from group to group with his parents making small talk.

When 11:45 came around, Lily and Remus had just finished dancing a medium-paced song when the band started another slow one. Lily had just put her hand on Remus' shoulder when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Lily turned around and was momentarily struck silent when she saw James. She shook her head stupidly and turned to face him completely. She didn't know why, but ever since that time when he'd walked in on her, she'd get butterflies in her stomach around him. She figured it was probably just due to nervousness, but for some reason it didn't feel right. Much more awkwardly than she'd been with Remus, she put her hand on his shoulder as he grabbed her free hand. She couldn't help the slight blush that graced her cheeks when he pulled her close and began to dance.

He was surprisingly good… Actually, he was phenomenal. He moved so smoothly that it was like he'd been doing it for years. Not that Remus was horrible or anything, James was just a natural. It brought out the inner good-dancer in Lily. Soon, they were gliding across the floor making it look easy. About halfway through the song, James finally spoke.

"You look stunning tonight, Lils. Really, you do. When I first saw you I couldn't believe that it was you."

The pressure between them when they maintained eye contact was too much so she lowered her eyes.

"Thanks James," she said softly as they began to spin. As their speed increased slightly during the spin, she had to grip onto his shoulder and hand tighter and was inevitably pulled closer to his body. She was surprised at how light-headed she felt.

"That necklace really is nice. It looks good on you, very flattering. The dress as well."

"Thanks," was all she could say once again.

They continued to dance through three more songs. He asked her about her success at career information and they had a comfortable conversation. It was the first truly comfortable conversation since she had first arrived at the Potters at the beginning of Christmas. Remembering it, she became slightly nostalgic. She used to feel so comfortable talking to James, like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was sad that everything was so awkward between them now.

Before she knew it, the crowd around her began counting down. Abruptly, she and James stopped dancing and turned towards the clock. She was distinctly aware of his hand in the small of her back.

TEN!

NINE!

EIGHT!

Lily and James counted aloud with everyone else. She spotted Remus and Peter still sitting at the table and tried to motion for them to come over, but they didn't see her.

SEVEN!

SIX!

FIVE!

She saw Sirius looking around wildly, no doubt for someone to kiss at midnight.

FOUR!

THREE!

TWO!

She could feel the excitement in the air; everyone was getting ready. Couples around the room had turned to each other. Indeed, all around James and herself were couples looking into each other's eyes.

ONE!

"**HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!" **everyone in the house screamed.

James turned to face Lily.

"Happy New Years," he said to her softly.

"Happy New Years…" she mumbled back.

She knew what was coming. She could feel it in the way that he tightened his grip ever-so-slightly on her waist, in the way that he was looking at her. She briefly wondered if he was a good kisser as he lowered his head…

But she would never know for at that moment Sirius came barreling out of the crowd, wrapped his arm around her neck, pulled her towards him, and planted a big sloppy kiss on the area around her mouth. As he pulled back she noticed his eyes looked awfully glassy and figured he'd had a little more than punch. That was probably why he'd missed her mouth.

"Happy New Years!!!!" he slurred.

"Sirius that was disgusting! I can't believe you kissed me!" she wiped her mouth off. "I'll have to wash my own mouth out with soap now. Sick…"

As Sirius laughed, apparently not hearing her, and threw his spare arm around James' neck, she missed the strange look that passed over James' face.

"Padfoot I can't believe you kissed Lily," Remus said as he walked up with Peter trailing behind him.

Sirius looked at him strangely, "What are you talking 'bout Moony? I didn't kiss Lily."

Everyone stared back at him, completely confused.

"I didn't," he insisted. "I kissed her…" he turned and pointed at Lily. Then his face quickly changed to shock as he realized whom he'd kissed.

"I kissed Lily?!" he exclaimed loudly.

"Yes!" everyone replied.

"Oh. My. God. I am **so** sorry Lils! I had no idea that that was you. It was midnight and I needed someone to kiss so I saw a girl by herself and went in for the kill." Sirius seemed to have sobered up rather quickly.

"I'll say you went in for the kill," Lily muttered to herself. Only Remus heard her and he chuckled silently.

After midnight, the Potter's guests quickly cleared out. As they had done when the guests had arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Potter stood at the door and talked to every guest as they left. In a matter of thirty minutes, the Potter's house stood empty of everyone but the Potters, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily.

"All in all I think everything went extremely well," Mrs. Potter said. "There were a few tense moments with some people, but thankfully nothing major happened."

"I agree," Mr. Potter said happily. "A true success."

* * *

The rest of the Christmas holidays passed without any other events. The five teenagers relaxed, slept a lot, and did their best to avoid thinking about returning to Hogwarts, no matter how much they missed it. Returning meant resuming classes and resuming classes meant homework. And no one liked homework.

Between all the relaxing and sleeping, Lily did a lot of thinking about her future. Talking to all of the different ministry divisions had been a field day of career information, but it had also left her with so many different ideas of where she belonged.

Stuck in her head more than any other, though, were Alastor Moody's words about the Auror department. She could not stop thinking about it. It made her feel more excited than anything else. Perhaps becoming an Auror was her path.

But there were so many choices.

'_Oh well,'_ she thought. _'I'll just worry about it later. After all, Alastor said that our heads of house would talk to us about it next year. I'll decide then after I've had some more time to think on it.'_

When the Christmas holidays had officially run out and it was the night before their return to Hogwarts, the Potters had a mini-party. Mrs. Potter cooked a fantastic meal and they all stayed up much later than they should have reminiscing about all the fun they had had over the holidays. Mr. and Mrs. Potter made well sure that Lily knew they enjoyed her stay with them and they encouraged her to come back over the summer, at least for a short while.

When the clock struck 1:30 in the morning, Mrs. Potter shooed them off to bed. She told James they wouldn't be there in the morning when they woke up because they had to work, but to make sure they all reached the train on time. She also requested he send her a letter so she would know they made it there okay.

After many hugs and a few kisses (on the forehead of course, anything else would have been a disgrace to their manhood), the group made their way upstairs. After changing, Lily flopped down onto her bed and immediately fell asleep. When she would wake up the next morning she would have no recollection of her nightmares.

* * *

"Ready to go Lils?" Sirius yelled from outside her door.

"Almost. Just give me one second," she called back.

She grabbed her toothbrush and her shoes, shoved them in her trunk, and drug it down the stairs. At the bottom, James shrunk her trunk and put it in his pocket as he had when they'd left Hogwarts. They then began the walk to the London platform nine and three-quarters. It took them a good while, but it was a nice day so they didn't mind so much.

Upon reaching the platform, the group was immediately surrounded by friends asking about their holiday. After many greetings and much questioning, they made their way onto the train and found an empty compartment. There, they enjoyed a peaceful, quiet journey back to Hogwarts.

The only interruption was when a boy opened their compartment door by mistake, but quickly shut it again when he saw who was inside. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all laughed, but Lily didn't seem to get the joke. They told her it was not what he did that they were laughing at, but who he was. However, they refused to tell her his name.

When the train ride was over and they had reached Hogwarts, the five of them piled out. On the platform at Hogwarts, they all stopped to stare at the school. It was where they had all met. They had made memories there already and knew of the memories they had yet to make.

A feeling of companionship spread between all of them and slowly they put their arms around each other's shoulders. People passed by them staring at them strangely, but they ignored them and stared at Hogwarts. Peter was the first one to speak.

"Well, we're home."

At that moment, Sirius bailed on them and took off after a Ravenclaw sixth year.

"We sure are," said James as they all laughed. Not long after, Sirius returned making excuses as to why the girl had blown him off (she was going through family problems at the moment).

"You know what guys?" said Remus, the first words he'd spoken since they'd gotten off the train.

They all turned to him.

"We're pretty much going to be best friends for the rest of our lives. All five of us together forever…"

Slowly, smiles spread across their faces and as linked arms and laughed their… well, their butts off, they had no idea how much life had yet to throw at them and how much harder that 'forever' would be for them to achieve.

* * *

End Chapter VI

R&R

Luckyducky


	7. Changes

Hey, I'm back!

I know I've left everyone hanging for several months now and there's no really good excuse except that I got really caught up in college. It's my first year and all that so it's been somewhat interesting. But I've gotten into a swing now and the urge to write is back so without further ado…

**Together Forever**

**By**

**Luckyducky**

* * *

**Chapter VII**

**Changes**

After the Christmas break, things at Hogwarts sped up rather quickly. Professors began gearing up for the O.W.L.s at the end of the year and the students were starting to feel the pressure. Courtesy of Remus, the Marauders were often seen in the previously untouched library. They were not the only ones, however. Many of the students at Hogwarts who had never visited the library very often were now making a habit of practically living in it.

For Lily, especially, the days went by quicker and quicker. While the rest of the student body at Hogwarts had been trained for their first four years for what would be on the O.W.L. exam, Lily was not sure if her previous schooling would match up correctly. However, rather than study with her Marauder friends for the exams, she chose, instead, to study with Sue.Despite her deep friendship with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, she knew their atrociousstudyhabits.

"Sue, can we give it a rest for tonight? I feel that if I study for another minute, my head will positively explode." Lily rested her head on the table and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Sure, Lily. Let's call it a night. I'm wiped out."

Sue closed the books strewn across the table and helped Lily to her feet. Staggering, they made their way back to Gryffindor tower. They had spent almost every evening in the library for the past few weeks so it felt good to quit early for one evening.

"Sue, do you think that the O.W.L.s will be very hard?"

"Well, they're supposed to be hard, but I don't think they'll pose any trouble for you. You know as well as I do that you're smart enough to take the N.E.W.T.s already."

Lily shoved her, laughing. "Yeah right. The only thing I'd do is make a fool of myself," she said as she flopped down on her bed.

Yawning, Lily changed into her pajamas and pulled the bed curtains up. Tomorrow was Saturday and she planned on sleeping as late as possible, which in actuality wasn't that late at all because of the early Quidditch match. There was no way she'd be able to miss tomorrow's game. It was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, first game of the season, and there was no way Remus, Sirius, or Peter would let her sleep in.

As Lily lay in her bed drifting off to sleep, she tilted her head back to look at the wall behind her bed. Upon arriving back at Hogwarts after the holidays, one of the first things she'd done is to place the picture James had given her on the wall with a sticking charm. Now, she gazed at the picture fondly, cherishing her prankster friends. They, along with Sue, had helped her to adapt to Hogwarts so easily that she now felt like she had been here forever. 

Lily gave the picture a quick smile and rolled over, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_Through the haze created by her dreams, Lily was under the impression that someone or something was calling her name. But that wasn't right. It wasn't so much hearing as it was sensing her name. Like when you're standing in a dark corridor and you feel someone watching you._

"_Lily…"_

_It was soft, so soft it was almost undetectable. Although she was asleep, she could feel her resting body shiver as a chill ran down her spine. She was in a most uncomfortable state – the one between sleeping and waking. She was surrounded by a fog created by her sleeping mind, yet was aware of her body lying on the bed. _

_In her dream, she turned struggling to see through the fog. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere. There was no way to pinpoint its location. She stumbled forward a couple of steps, unsure of where she was walking. _

"_Lily…"_

_She frowned in her dream as she felt her sleeping body break out in a sweat. Gradually she became restless. The sweat under her arms, on her forehead, and on her chest was quickly becoming cold, giving her more chills. Her hands clenched and her dream self could feel the clamminess of her palms._

"_Lily."_

_The dream Lily jumped and turned around. This time the voice had come from directly behind her. She touched the side of her face. She could still feel the breath from the voice lingering on her neck. Being basically blinded by the fog, she stumbled backwards in fear, not willing to turn her back to the voice. Her heart racing, she whipped her head back and forth, frantically searching for the source of her fear._

"_Coming closer…so much closer…"_

_Her sleeping body twitched, affected by her dream self's increasing fear. Her dream self, panicked by her lack of vision, turned and began running blindly. Suddenly a tall figure in black materialized in the fog. Not being able to stop in time, Lily slammed into it. Hands that burned gripped her forearms, holding her against her will._

_She struggled violently, but couldn't break the hands hold on her. The sudden heat burned at her and she fought to breathe. Taking in air, she felt as if her lungs were on fire. It hurt so much. All she wanted to do was give in._

"_So close!"_

* * *

Lily jerked awake, her arms flailing wildly. Slowly the fear left her mind as light poured into her eyes and she recognized the inside of her bed curtains. She could hear water running and remembered Sue, figuring that it was most likely her getting ready. Then the Quidditch match leaked into her mind. With her heartbeat slowing, Lily opened her curtains and sat on the edge of her bed, looking up when Sue opened the bathroom door. 

"Well good morning, you lazy bum. I was going to wake you up if you weren't awake by the time I got out of the shower. It's still pretty early, but I figured you'd appreciate not feeling rushed to get ready."

Lily gazed at Sue, seemingly fascinated by her.

"Lily, I know I'm gorgeous and everything so you have every right to stare, but you're kind of freaking me out. Is everything ok?"

Lily returned her gaze to the floor. She wanted to talk about her dream. It had been different – so unlike her other nightmares. Usually they were just reruns of her past, but this one had been so incredibly real. She could still feel the strength of the hands on her arms. But, holding onto this dream was like holding smoke. The more she thought about, the less she could remember. Gradually the lingering sense of panic left her, the chilled sweat evaporated, and the vividness of the scepter in the fog disappeared from her memory.

"Lily? Sweetie, are you okay?"

Discouraged, Lily looked up into her concerned friend's face and smiled reassuringly. "Yes. I'm fine." She got up, grabbing an outfit for the match. "Just had an interesting dream."

As the hot water in the shower soothed her, she noticed her upper arms. On each arm there was a set of bruises. Four lines curiously shaped like a set of fingers. However, by this time, Lily could remember nothing of her dream, and wondered instead who on earth had grabbed her so hard the day before.

* * *

"Ravenclaw doesn't stand a chance!" Sirius yelled excitedly in the middle of the Hogwarts foyer. "There's no way we can lose, not with the team Kingsley's put together this year!"

"Padfoot, I think we heard you the first time," Peter said, digging at his ear. "You've only been yelling it since the break of dawn this morning."

"Yeah, and I've only been yelling it because it's true!"

"Oh, and what makes you so sure that Gryffindor has it in them?"

Sirius turned around slowly towards the voice. "Is that the obnoxiously sleazy voice of a Slytherin I hear? Why yes, it is! Fancy that."

"Is there something that you need Evan?" Remus, who had previously been silent, politely asked.

Evan Rosier, a sixth year Slytherin, looked at Remus loathingly. "Why, I just heard your house-traitor friend here bragging and thought I'd take him off his high horse. I distinctly remember your idiot friend Potter making a complete fool out of himself last year. Shame. I myself would never blow a match because I was too busy showing off for a girlfriend."

Sirius' face turned a violent shade of red, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. Confused, Remus looked around for the source of the spell when he saw Lily coming down the stairs with Sue. Sue had her wand arm outstretched and said quietly, "I don't believe whatever he was going to say would be very productive." 

Remus and Peter smiled up at her, but Sirius continued mouthing off at Evan and the two Slytherins that stood behind him. As Lily and Sue reached the bottom of the stairs and came up to stand by the three Marauders, Evan suddenly seemed to take notice of them. He smirked at Lily and looked her up and down before doing the same to Sue.

"Hey Evans, Walker. How 'bout you come sit with us today. Maybe we can slip out a little early and go hang out." 

Although Lily had heard stories of Evan Rosier and his group of friends, she couldn't help admiring him. He had the bad boy image down perfect and was definitely not hard on the eyes. If it weren't for the stories, she would be inclined to second-guess her original opinion of the Slytherin house and run off with him. She'd heard he was an amazing kisser.

"Rosier, the offer's very tempting but I'm going to have to decline. What with the whole house grudge thing going on, I'm not sure people would look at us with approval."

He casually shrugged his shoulders and grinned seductively, "Maybe some other time then."

"I'm sure she's counting down the minutes until the next time you two meet," Peter muttered. 

Quickly, the charming persona Evan had been previously oozing was replaced with a cold, hard stare at the shorter boy. "You might want to watch yourself, rat." And with that, Evan and his cronies walked away.

Once the Slytherins were out of sight, Sue removed the muting spell on Sirius. Immediately he began attacking her with questions about why on earth she would do such a thing. 

"I could have taken them hands down!" and so on and so forth…

Trying to ignore Sirius and Sue, the group began walking to the Quidditch field. The day had turned out perfect for a Quidditch match – not too hot and not too cold. Lily, though, had not noticed the beautiful day. Her mind was trying to recall the name of one of the boys with Evan Rosier. Although it hadn't been for a very long period of time, he had stared at her for longer than necessary.

Noticing the thoughtful look in her eyes, Peter spoke up. "What 'cha thinking about, Lils?"

"Do you remember the name of that one guy with Rosier? He was standing on the left… I can't remember his name…"

"Snivellus?" Peter asked, his brow scrunched up as to why she'd be asking about him.

Lily snapped her fingers. "That's it! Thanks Wormtail." Hearing 'Snivellus' had helped her to remember his real name – Severus Snape. Satisfied, she walked ahead to catch up with Remus. Behind her, Peter just stared at her back.

Upon reaching the field, they slowly climbed to the top of one of the towers. Surrounded by Gryffindors, one couldn't help being pumped up by all the energy. The game sped along rather quickly, both teams scoring often. James played superbly, no doubt due to missing it so much for the previous six months. Before they knew it, the score was tied at one hundred, but there had been no sign of the snitch. 

The game continued on with the Gryffindor team gaining a slight edge, when all of a sudden the Gryffindor seeker, his name escaped Lily, dove. The chasers were forgotten as the crowd began cheering on the seekers. The Ravenclaw seeker, coming from another direction, caught up with the Gryffindor seeker, and it was a neck-in-neck race for the snitch. After what seemed like several minutes, but was only mere seconds in reality, the Gryffindor seeker rose from their plummet, fist raised triumphantly. 

The stands around Lily exploded in cheering. Gryffindor house had won the first Quidditch game of the season, and what a start it was! Slytherin was going to be hard pressed to catch up to them this season. 

As they made their way down the stands with the rest of their housemates, Lily paused. "Guys, I think I'll wait here for James to get out and meet up with you later."

"All right, Lils," Sirius called back.

"See you later, Lily!" yelled Sue.

Lily watched her friends walk away and then casually made her way to the locker rooms and leaned against the wall to wait. Relaxed due to the comfortable day, Lily didn't notice another presence at first until it spoke.

"Good game wasn't it?"

She jumped at the unexpected voice before noticing Severus Snape from earlier, otherwise known as Snivellus. "Yeah it was."

They stood there in awkward silence, neither of them saying anything for several minutes. Lily took this time to study Snape. James and Sirius were always so insistently picking on this boy, yet she couldn't tell exactly what attracted their attention. Sure he had a Slytherin air about him, but it was nowhere near as pronounced as Evan or Malfoy. Compared to them, he was actually kind of cute and innocent looking.

As the wind blew a harder gust, Lily's scarf unwrapped from around her neck and almost blew away. If it hadn't been for her quick reflexes, she would have undoubtedly lost it. Thankfully, she grabbed it in the nick of time. When she looked back at Snape, though, he was gazing fixatedly at her chest. 

Lily's face blushed horribly at the area of his attention and she felt her anger rising before he commented, "That's a very nice necklace, Lily."

Gradually her anger fell and she began fingering her Christmas present. "Thank you, Severus. It was a Christmas present."

"Who from?" he asked, looking back up at her.

Meeting his eyes, she replied, "I'm not sure. There wasn't a name."

And then, as suddenly as he had appeared he had turned and was calling over his shoulder. "Well, I guess I'll see you around, Lily. Nice talking to you."

"You too. See you later." 

As Snape walked away, Lily could have sworn she saw a small blush creep up his cheeks and the back of his neck, but had no idea what it would be from.

"Hey there, Lils!"

Snape forgotten, Lily turned around to face a fresh-out-of-the-shower James. "Awesome game, Prongs! You did fantastic."

"It wasn't just James, Evans. Please don't give him compliments, it just makes him have an even bigger head," James' Quidditch team captain Kingsley called out. "Soon he wont be able to find a broom that will be able to lift his big head off the ground."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny," James joked back.

"You know I'm just kidding man. I couldn't ask for a better chaser."

"Like I said," Lily continued, "great game."

"Thanks," James replied sheepishly. Suddenly, his eyes seemed attracted to her left arm. Her sleeve had rose up when she caught her scarf, revealing the bruises. 

"Lily, where did you get those bruises?" he frowned at her.

She struggled to find the words to reassure him. "I just stumbled the other day and bumped into the wall. It's no big deal," she said nonchalantly.

James looked at her skeptically, obviously not believing her, but not willing to upset her by continuing the subject. "Alright then, what do you say we go get something to eat? I'm starved."

"Alright, let's go fat-butt. Or is it fat-head," she said slyly.

"Hey!" James cried indignantly.

"I'm just kidding James. Come on."

* * *

Over second half of February strange happenings began to occur. More and more often Lily found herself talking to Severus Snape. It began with him appearing outside her classes just to say hi, and soon it developed into him walking her to her next class. Their occasional comments developed into full-blown conversations – ones Lily enjoyed having. In the beginning, Lily hadn't paid any mind to her newfound friendship. It wasn't until Sue brought it to her attention that she realized people were worried.

"Hey Lily, can I talk to you about something?"

Lily looked up from studying her Transfiguration notes, "Sure."

"I… I've just noticed you hanging out with that Slytherin boy a lot lately. Are you two dating or something?"

Lily burst out laughing, "Sue, that's ridiculous. We're just friends, nothing more. Besides, you'd be the first to know if I had a boyfriend, you should know that."

Sue wrung her hands, "I know, Lils; its just, people have been talking. It's not right for you to be hanging around with a Slytherin, especially one so close to Malfoy and that whole group. Everyone thinks that he's only talking to you because they have a plan or something." 

Lily rolled her eyes, "I think that I could take care of myself if they tried anything, not that they will."

"But Lily you know everyone in that group is into dark magic. Mary McDonald said just the other day that she saw the dark mark on one of their arms. If they really are serving You-Know-Who then I think they could take one little hot-tempered redhead, don't you?"

And then, for reasons unknown to herself, Lily got mad. "What do you know, Sue? You don't even know anything about Severus! He's not into all that dark magic crap. He never brings up anything about his friends **or** the Dark Lord. The only things we talk about are normal everyday conversations – nothing bad. If you're not going to believe me then why don't you just go gossip with everyone else!"

Ignoring her friend's shocked stare, Lily slammed her notebook closed and stormed to her bed.

"Lily… Lily, please!"

She walked forward and placed her hand on Lily's upper arm, but Lily shrugged it off.

"You know I didn't mean anything bad. Lily, please listen to me!"

"Save it!"

"I just want you to be careful. I don't want you to get…"

"I said drop it!" Lily yelled at her as she jerked her bed curtains closed and placed a muting spell around her bed. If Sue were saying anything now, she wouldn't be able to hear it. Fuming, Lily rolled over onto her side and glanced at her picture. No one else had said anything to her. _Sue must be imagining things_, she concluded.

* * *

End Chapter VII

R&R

Luckyducky 


End file.
